Peggy’s Gift Of A Lifetime

Peggy was inspired to leave a gift in her Will to benefit our hospital following the research work of her nephew, Charlie. 

Peggy was born and raised in Malaysia, and that’s where she met and married her husband Philip, while he was working for the Colonial Office. The couple later returned to England and settled in High Barnet. Charlie, the son of Peggy’s best friend, was born in Singapore and came to a boarding school in England at the age of 14 in 1960. Peggy and Philip were his guardians in England and with no children of their own, the couple were thrilled to spend lots of time with him during the school holidays, on the occasions Charlie didn’t fly home to his parents 

After leaving school, Charlie qualified as a doctor at Kings College Hospital, London. He trained as an obstetrician gynaecologist there, with a further two and a half years spent at the University of Hong Kong being trained in gynaecological oncology. At that time this subspecialty did not exist in the UK. Charlie returned to the UK and started his consultant career as a University of Birmingham Senior Lecturer in Dudley Road Hospital in 1980. Together, with two other consultants, he started the first training programme for gynaecological oncology in this country. In 1986, Charlie joined Birmingham Women’s Hospital as an NHS consultant, where he worked for the next 23 years.  

Peggy was interested in Charlie’s work and in his research projects, especially in ovarian cancer. This was why, when writing her Will, she chose to leave a gift to benefit gynaecological oncology patients. Peggy passed away in 2017, aged 95, leaving Charlie as an executor to her Will. He was able to advise and ensure that Peggy’s gift was used exactly as she had specified, ‘to promote research and education for the improvement of women’s health, generally, and for gynaecological cancer, specifically.’ Charlie said: “I am so proud of my aunt’s legacy and I know first-hand the difference it will make to so many women going through some of the scariest moments of their lives. It’s such an incredible way for Peggy to be remembered.” 

In 2023, a number of these research projects were able to commence thanks to Peggy’s incredibly generous gift. One of the projects is research into a new form of treatment for ovarian cancer. The treatment is delivered by a special HIPEC (Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy) machine which directly bathes the abdominal cavity in a chemotherapy solution to kill any remaining cancer. Birmingham has one of the best ovarian cancer survival rates in the UK and HIPEC could improve this even further. 

Mr. Janos Balega, a consultant gynaecological oncologist and one of the leading researchers in this project, said: “This revolutionary new treatment has the ability to extend life for some of our sickest patients. It’s a real privilege for us to be able to offer this treatment and we are so grateful to Peggy for enabling us to do so. What an extraordinary legacy to leave!”   

Mr. Janos Balega with the new HIPEC machine, thanks to Peggy’s incredible legacy gift.