Paula Heister taught medicine at Downing College, University of Cambridge

A Cambridge man whose wife died of a brain tumour has described her as “a force of nature”. Chris Jones, 39, lost his wife Paula Heister to glioblastoma on April 26, 2025, when she was 40 – just eight weeks after going to hospital with headaches and numbness on her left side.

A year on from his wife’s death, Chris is taking on the London Marathon to raise money for Brain Tumour Research in her honour. Chris, an academic, said: “Last July, we emigrated from Cambridge to Vienna. We had six months in which we were making our home there, but about two weeks after the final touches to our new flat, Paula’s first physical symptoms presented.

“I watched Paula become weaker and less mobile every day. After her diagnosis, she went from being able to walk outside to the patients’ garden at the hospital to being virtually paralysed, all within the space of a few weeks. Despite Paula’s incredible bravery, the speed of it all was profoundly difficult. A year later, running the London Marathon gives me a positive focus on the anniversary of her death.”

In February 2025, Paula was suffering with strong headaches and experienced numbness in her left hand and through her arm. Blood tests didn’t detect anything, but the numbness began spreading.

Chris said: “When the numb sensation spread to her leg, we rushed back to the hospital. An MRI scan revealed four tumours in the right hemisphere of Paula’s brain. The largest was nearly three centimetres in diameter and was pressing against a region of the brain responsible for motor function.

“The tumours were growing at an alarming rate, and there was no option of either surgery or radiotherapy. Paula spent the next five weeks in hospital, and the final three weeks of her life back at home, cared for by friends and family.

He continued: “Paula was a force of nature. She was incredibly vibrant, analytic, creative, phenomenally generous, and passionate about all that she did. She was teaching at Cambridge, but waiting to resume work as a clinician, in Austria.

“Paula was also a professional illustrator, and was producing her first works for young readers. Just a few weeks before her diagnosis, she had been awarded a visiting fellowship at Harvard University.

“Being told that neither surgery nor radiotherapy were possible was hard to take. Paula was given the chance to have a type of chemotherapy, known as Temozolomide (TMZ), but in many cases this is not effective. Paula celebrated her first chemotherapy pill with a big smile and a sense of triumph, even though she knew this drug was unlikely to make a difference.“

Paula died at home in Vienna on April 26, 2025, surrounded by loved ones. Brain tumours kill more women under 35 than breast cancer, yet just one percent of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumours since 2002.

Paula had a glioblastoma, an aggressive and fast-growing tumour that is challenging to treat. It’s the most common type of primary high-grade brain tumour in adults, with around 3,200 people diagnosed with it each year in the UK. Glioblastoma patients will almost always see their tumour recur, and when it does, treatment options are limited.

Chris is now in training for the London Marathon. He said: “When I saw the marathon was taking place on the one-year anniversary of Paula’s death and learnt that Brain Tumour Research offered the opportunity to run, I knew I had to go for it. Running suspends my mind from wandering, and it’s helping me deal with the physical effects of grief.

“Running has helped me to keep going, and raising money through the marathon gives me a positive target for that day. Brain Tumour Research supports vital research into brain cancer, and the work of young researchers who dedicate themselves to finding new treatments – Paula would approve.”

The Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence at Queen Mary University of London, a university where Paula was once a researcher, is working on developing personalised treatments for glioblastomas in adults. The are discovering gentler, more specific, and effective therapies for childhood brain tumours too including medulloblastoma, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), and ependymoma.

Carol Robertson, national events manager at Brain Tumour Research, said: “Chris’s determination to take on the London Marathon after everything he has been through is truly inspiring. Brain tumours are indiscriminate and devastating, and stories like Paula’s highlight why greater investment in research is so urgently needed.

“We are incredibly grateful to Chris for turning his experience into action and helping us raise vital funds and awareness as we work towards finding a cure.”

You can support Chris’ fundraising campaign here.