A WIDOWER who lost his wife to a brain tumour will wear a silly hat all day on Friday as part of a charity campaign.

Beryl Hall, 80, of Hardman Close, Knuzden Brook, passed away in February last year just weeks after being diagnosed.

Now, husband Alban has decided to focus his grief on raising awareness of the disease, which, he said, gets less than one per cent of national cancer research spending.

Mr Hall, 81, has joined forces with Brain Tumour Research, which will hold its annual ‘Wear A Hat’ day on Friday.

He said: “There are some people that run marathons but I did not fancy my chances in that, but I can wear a hat so I thought ‘what the heck’.

“I will be wearing the hat all day and I will go into town.

“People might think I am a silly old fool but who cares?

“The whole point is that it is funny.

“I like to think Beryl would be pleased.”

Mr Hall described his horror at watching his wife of almost 60 years deteriorate in front of him.

“It is horrible. She very quickly had to go on morphine because of the pain.

“Between each dose there was a part where she was just waiting for it to kick in.

“I would be trying to console her and she would be just hitting herself in the head and pulling at her clothes.

“That went on for two weeks and then she died. In between the episodes she was just a cabbage.”

Mr Hall met his wife in 1953, having just left the Army after his National Service.

They had two children, Michael and Linda, and two grandaughters.

Mr Hall said: “We would have celebrated our diamond wedding anniversary last year and Beryl was really looking forward to that.”

Mr Hall said he had been pledged £200 in sponsorships and he was hoping to double that.

He said: “It is not just the money but also the awareness of brain tumours that needs to be raised.

“It happens so quickly it is devastating and I do not want that to continue for other people.

“We hear so much about breast cancer and prostate cancer but more needs to be done about brain cancer.”

To sponsor Mr Hall, visit www.justgiving.com/AlbansWearAHatDay