Charity remembering inspirational teen Tom Bowdidge opens new hospital rooms in Colchester

Tom Bowdidge (Image: Archant)

The three spaces at Colchester General Hospital will be used to treat teenagers and young adults with cancer – an initiative which cost £25,000 with funds from the Tom Bowdidge Foundation.

Tom had just finished his A-Levels at Colchester Royal Grammar School when he was diagnosed with a desmoplastic small round cell tumour and extensive peritoneal disease.

At just 19-yeas-old, he spent time as an inpatient at Essex County Hospital, with his father often sleeping on the floor to be with him, and undergoing lengthy bouts of chemotherapy.

Keen to leave his mark, in the 13 months between his diagnosis and death, Tom helped raise £178,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust, with his family taking up the mantle on February 28 2014 – what would have been Tom’s 20th birthday.

Tom Bowdidge (Image: Archant)

Since then, the foundation raised more than £500,000.

Thanks to its work, the Colchester General Hospital will now offer a Young Adults Quiet Space for outpatients, with wall art, lighting, flooring and furniture covered by the foundation.

Nikki Bowdidge, chief executive of the charity, said: “We are delighted to have been able to create these wonderful rooms at Colchester General Hospital.

“This was very much at the heart of Tom’s vision, to improve facilities locally that are more age appropriate in their design. We hope these rooms will now make a young cancer patient’s treatment more comfortable and private.”

Tom Bowdidge (Image: Archant)

A Young Adults Clinic Room has also been set up for outpatients having chemotherapy, as well as an en suite single room on West Bergholt Ward.

Lea Kirton, clinical nurse specialist, added: “It’s wonderful that we at Colchester General Hospital are now able to support the best possible care in an appropriate environment for our young people with cancer.

“A young patient told me recently that moving into our newly decorated designated room on West Bergholt Ward had ‘brightened’ up her day and made her smile. She has found the mood lighting relaxing and it has helped her to sleep.”

Tom Bowdidge (Image: Archant)