45,000-name petition calling for Owain’s Law handed in to Downing Street

A 45,000-name petition calling for ‘Owain’s Law’ has been handed in to 10 Downing Street, as a Caerphilly mum continues her campaign to change the law in her late husband’s memory.

Owain James, from Machen, passed away in the summer of 2024 with a brain tumour, leaving behind wife Ellie James and young daughter Amelia.

Ellie has since been campaigning for Owain’s Law, which was debated in parliament last month.

Owain’s Law

As part of Owain’s treatment, his tumour tissue needed to be fresh-frozen. However, of the 7cm of Owain’s tumour tissue that was removed, only 1cm of it had been fresh-frozen. This is something Ellie says was not discussed with the family beforehand.

As a result, Owain could only have three vaccines – when he could have had around 30 created had the entire tumour tissue been fresh-frozen.

His tumour regressed, giving the family a renewed optimism, but it came back again, with no more vaccines able to be produced. Owain passed away on June 26, 2024.

Owain’s Law would require every NHS hospital to freeze suitable brain-tumour tissue the right way, while guaranteeing that the tissue remains the patient’s property under informed consent.

Ellie has set up an online petition calling for Owain’s Law – and is aiming to collect one million signatures supporting the cause.

Her aim is to bring about changes to the law in both Wales – where health is devolved – and in England.

Ellie said: “Thousands of patients are being denied access to modern cancer treatments because their tumour tissue is not stored properly after surgery. That failure is taking away people’s chances before they even know those options exist, and it is costing lives.

“My husband Owain never had that chance, and no family should have to go through what we went through.

“This is a fixable problem, and for a small investment we could give more patients a fairer chance to fight their disease.”

Campaigners say the national freezer shortfall could be resolved for just a six-figure sum.

Westminster

Owain’s Law was debated in parliament on January 7, with Caerphilly’s Labour MP Chris Evans leading the debate while Ellie watched from the gallery.

Ellie visited Downing Street on Monday February 2 to hand in her petition, calling for urgent action on brain cancer and tissue preservation.

She will, alongside other affected families, be meeting MPs and members of the House of Lords on Tuesday February 3 during a parliamentary drop-in event – with a life-size replica of a medical-grade freezer to highlight the need for more freezing capacity across the NHS.

The event comes ahead of World Cancer Day on February 4, with the UK Government set to publish its National Cancer Plan this week.