‘Inspirational’ Mirfield teen diagnosed with rare brain tumour to complete Yorkshire Three Peaks - along with over 100 people

Alissa Bowman, a former pupil at Mirfield Free Grammar, was diagnosed with the tumour just a few days before her 16th birthday last December.

After months of procedures, scans and surgery, all while still studying for her GCSE’s, doctors revealed to the family they had not dealt with a similar case in the UK.

“You have got to be strong and keep going,” Alissa said when asked what the last nine months have been like. “There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The positive youngster, with the help of her supportive mum, Fran, is now raising money for The Brain Tumour Charity to help fund research into the disease by scaling Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent on Saturday, October 5.

And the Mirfield community, including family, friends and staff at Mirfield Free Grammar, have rallied round to join the challenge - with over 100 people already signed up.

Alissa, who is now studying at the Learning Curve Hair and Beauty College in Leeds, revealed: “I have set myself a goal to complete it all and I’m on chemo still. If I can do it, anyone can do it. Everyone is capable of doing it. I’ll be shouting at them all telling them to get a grip and to keep going!

“You have just got to keep going and going. That’s what we do. Keep going and push through. I am all about mindset. Mind over matter.

“Everyone is capable of being strong and positive. Everyone has got it in them but you have got to find it. It doesn’t just come to you, you have got to look for it.

“You have got to keep fighting.”

And while completing the 38.6km trek will be demanding for all those involved, it is just a “tiny snippet” of the challenges Alissa continues to face, despite recent results showing 90 per cent of her tumour has gone.

Fran said: “She is so brave, she is so strong and she is the most determined person I have ever met. She has inspired us all to do more things and challenge ourselves.

“Everything Alissa goes through, and every child with cancers and tumours, is so difficult so we wanted to do something that was challenging.

“We have been really surprised with how many people have got on board with the idea. We were hoping for about 20 people but then the local community all came together and it snowballed. It has given us all something different to think about and focus on.

“We know that at the end of the day it will be done and over with. Whereas Alissa still has months of treatment and a lifetime of medication, scans and MRI’s.

“It’s a little tiny snippet of what she has to go through. But it will be a really fun, great day, everyone on those peaks together.”

She added: “We are all so proud of her. We didn’t choose to be on this journey but what it has shown is the amazing, incredible person that Alissa is and how deep she has dug to find this inner strength.

“She has inspired so many people and her positivity throughout it all has been incredible to watch.”

And Alissa, after completing the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge, wants to continue inspiring people.

The determined college student said: “It is just a chapter in your life that you learn a lot from. I have learnt so much. I want to do so much for charities. I want to do so much for kids with cancer.

“I want to help them out, I want to be there for them, I want to say, ‘I’ve gone through this, I’ve been positive, I still live my life.’

“I still do things when people have said you shouldn’t be doing that. I am doing that because I can and I will.”

Fran will also be running the London Marathon next April to raise money for the charity.

“The Brain Tumour Charity has been really supportive,” she said. “They have been absolutely shocked with the amount of people Alissa has managed to get involved and the amount of money we have raised already without even doing the events.

“The money goes towards research into brain tumours because it is such a highly underfunded area.

“And because Alissa’s is so rare and it doesn’t have a diagnosis, we’ve realised the importance of research into this.”

To donate, and for more information, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/fran-bowman-1718364803184?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Ffran-bowman-1718364803184&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share