Kirstys, Unite! 12‑Year‑Old Works to Fight Brain Tumors

Tunbridge Wells, England —(Map)

Kirsty Waugh is a 12-year-old English girl who is fighting a brain tumor. She has raised lots of money for research into brain tumors in children and she wants to raise lots more. To help with that project, she’s gotten thousands of people who share her name to help out.

Kirsty is from Tunbridge Wells, England. In 2024, she was having trouble seeing and remembering things. Doctors found a large tumor in her brain. They were able to remove some of the tumor. After the operation, Kirsty’s eyesight and memory came back.

But the tumor was in a delicate part of the brain, and was too big to be removed completely. So doctors are hoping to keep it from growing. That means Kirsty has to go through a harsh treatment called chemotherapy that uses strong medicine to attack cancer cells.

Kirsty has gone through one round of chemotherapy, and is now going through another. She says it’s “really tough”, and that it leaves her feeling “tired and out of breath”. But Kirsty says that telling her story, and raising money to help others “has made it easier to cope.”

Kirsty said she was driven to raise money after she learned how little money went toward research on brain tumors in children. She says she thought it was so crazy that she “needed to tell people and make a change.”

She has done an incredible job of raising money and awareness. Last year, Kirsty raised over £120,000 (about $160,000) for a charity that supports children with cancer. She did it by crocheting 70 bunting triangles (bunting is a type of hanging decoration) – one each week during her first round of chemotherapy.

This year, Kirsty has chosen a very different way to raise money: reaching out to people who share her name. “I want to tell everyone about my story,” she told the BBC, “But especially Kirstys.” (She says Kirsty’s are “the best people, because it’s the best name.”)

Kirsty and her father started a website (MyNameIsKirsty.com) asking people named Kirsty to help her raise awareness and money for research. Mr. Waugh built the site so that people could add their names, pictures, and locations to a map. That way, Kirsty can see other Kirstys all around the world.

So far, she’s gotten over 11,000 people named Kirsty to support her. Some spell their name Kirstie, Kirsti, Kerstie, Kurstie, or Kirsten. The family says that all are welcome. And they also encourage support from people with other names, who can join the site as “Friends of Kirsty”.

The website has gotten visitors from all around the world. Of course, people who want to help out can also donate money. So far, Kirsty has raised over £80,000 (about $108,000).

When Kirsty was asked if she had advice for others, she replied, “You can do anything as long as you set your mind to it. Don’t set yourself a goal, just aim to go as far as you can, which might be a lot further than you imagine!”

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Did You Know…?
Kirsty isn’t the only young person with health problems who is working to help others. Fourteen-year-old Jude Baker of Georgia is struggling with a rare and difficult cancer. Make-A-Wish is a group that works to grant wishes to young people with serious health problems. But when the group asked Jude what he wanted, he used his wish to help over 300 local homeless people. “I wanted to help them out because I was in a bad situation and they were too,” he said.