After the death of her daughter, Donna Roche of Antrim became determined to help fund research to find a cure for the disease that killed her.
On June 8, Brittany Roche, 25, died from a brain stem tumor caused by Neurofibromatosis. Brittany had been diagnosed with the disease at the age of 2 – leading to years of surgeries to relieve narrowing blood vessels and remove malignant tumors in her body.
“From the moment Brittany was born, it changed our whole life,” said Donna Roche. “We need to find a cure, or even some better treatments. If there had been treatment available, maybe Brittany would be here today.”
Neurofibromatosis is an incurable disorder which causes tumors to occur anywhere in or on the body at any time, which can become malignant, and can lead to various complications.
Brittany graduated from ConVal High School in 2010 and was halfway through her associates degree in early childhood education at New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord.
On Saturday, Donna Roche and her mother, Betty Bourgeault of Antrim manned a booth at the Home and Harvest Festival in Antrim, selling jewelry made by Bourgeault to raise money for the Brittany Roche Foundation, to raise money for research, as well as support some of the charitable organizations that Brittany had found joy in in her life, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Special Olympics.
Bourgeault started making jewelry after watching Brittany, who sold her work through her own business, Brittany’s Jewelry Box.
For more information about the Brittany Roche Foundation, contact brittanyrochefoundation@gmail.com.