THE family of a ‘fit as a violin’ teenager who died last month after a hard-fought battle with cancer has launched a campaign to improve the opportunities for others.
An avid student, football player, actor, gamer and cat lover, Benjamin Pavitt was just 16 when a relapse of his acute T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoblastic lymphoma ended his life.
Former Noadswood School pupil Ben, who excelled at his GCSEs and raised thousands for charity over 15 months of treatment, made it clear in his final days that he wanted his legacy to be one of helping others.
Ben on the day he collected his GCSE results
Tens of thousands of pounds have already been raised in his name for the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and Piam Brown ward at Southampton and Teenage Cancer Trust.
Now Father Mike, Mother Suzie and 13-year-old sister Lauren, of Marchwood, extended family, friends and the entire community have launched the Ben Pavitt’s Legacy of Love fund with the Children’s Cancer and Leukemia Group to raise much-needed money for childhood cancer research.
Pavitt family beach selfie
Father Mike, a partner at the Paris Smith law firm in Southampton, told the Daily Echo: “Ben was fit as the proverbial fiddle. He was an extremely healthy and active 15-year-old when he was first diagnosed, and he fought harder than anyone could have ever expected, but he was treated with chemotherapy drugs, some of which were first approved in the 1960s, and only a handful of therapies ever developed for children.
“His medical care has been top-notch, but this chronic lack of investment in healing over decades is robbing us of the best of our future generations and will continue to do so unless action is taken.
“No one could have been more loved, more cared for or healthier. He was the most adventurous of us and of his peers. If such a disease can take someone without risk factors, anyone can.”
Ben and Mike Pavitt. This photo launched Mike’s push-up challenge for the Teenage Cancer Trust
Fundraising, which is over £12,000, will continue with a partnership between amateur drama society SOS Presents, with which the Pavitt family performed, and Paris Smith LLP during the Mayflower MAST production of Legally Blonde, as well as an event for Marchwood Rangers, Ben’s football team.
Donate at specialnamedfunds.cclg.org.uk/ben-pavitts-legacy-of-love-fund
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