A first-time mum whose partner has a brain tumour has posed naked with girl friends to raise funds to fight the disease.

The eight women from across Scotland, many of whom have lost loved ones to a brain tumour, are featured in the Bare All for Brain Tumours 2011 calendar, which has been flying off the virtual shelf since its launch on Carolyn’s website and on Facebook just before Christmas.

The proceeds from the calendar of stylishly shot black-and-white photographs against magnificent Scottish landscape backdrops, will go towards Brain Tumour UK, which is launching a number of pilot projects across Scotland in 2011.

Bare All for Brain Tumours is the brainchild of Carolyn Pierpont, 33, of Montrose, on the east coast of Scotland, who has been determined to do everything she can to raise awareness of the condition, since her partner, Mark Toshney, was diagnosed with cancer last year.

“I would run around the world naked with a calendar in my hand if I have to, to help Mark,” says Carolyn, who will also run the Virgin London Marathon to raise funds for Brain Tumour UK this year.

The new mum of eight-month-old baby boy, Aiden, plans to send out calendars to members of the Scottish Parliament to coincide with Brain Tumour Awareness Month in March in an effort to raise political awareness of the condition in Scotland.

Carolyn contacted the other women, all of who were known to her before or became friends as a result of Mark’s condition, and organised the photo shoots for the calendar in freezing conditions in November 2010.

The calendar, which was designed and photographed for free by professionals who also have experience of the disease, is sold for £10 (plus £3 for postage and packaging to the UK), when ordered online.

Mark, who was super fit and 33 at the time of his diagnosis, collapsed at work and had four seizures within an hour, out of the blue, in February 2009. Doctors at first suspected he had meningitis, but a week later the couple was told that Mark had a tumour on the right frontal lobe of his brain.

“I remember going numb. I could see the neurosurgeon’s lips moving, but I was not registering what he was saying. It was like an out of body experience – I was watching him tell another couple that the man had a tumour which could kill him,” remembers Carolyn.

The couple, known as Mr and Mrs Incredible to their friends because of their healthy, fit lifestyle, suddenly found themselves confronted with a whole new world where words like chemotherapy, brain surgery, radiotherapy, MRI scans, neurologists and oncologists became part of their everyday vocabulary.

Mark had a seven-hour brain operation at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, during which most of the tumour was removed, followed by six weeks of combined radiotherapy and chemotherapy and then by six months of chemotherapy.   

“When Mark was diagnosed, I went into fix-it mode. I just wanted to do anything to help", says Carolyn.

Not only was Carolyn shocked by the lack of emotional help for people in their position, but also the bigger lack of funding for research into a cure.

“Mark is my soul mate, my partner, the father of my child. I want to keep him alive as long as possible. That is my motivation for doing what I am doing. I want to help find a cure.”

Although they have been through a very stressful time, which put a lot of strain on their relationship, the couple tried to remain positive. “We argued a lot, but something like this does put life in perspective and you realise what is important to you,” she says.

Mark, who is an engineer, is back at work full-time and has also been promoted to an assistant project manager.

The couple were told they should not try to have children naturally before a few years after Mark’s chemotherapy, but they had another surprise when Carolyn fell pregnant a few weeks before the chemotherapy was due to start in September 2009.

Aiden was born in May last year and Mark’s words upon seeing his first son, were: “I have something to live for now.”

NOTES TO THE EDITOR:

1. Brain Tumour UK is the Brain Tumour UK is the leading, caring charity committed to fighting brain tumours by providing support, funding research and raising awareness.

2. To read the stories of the other women featured in the catalogue visit www.fbatbt.co.uk

3. To sponsor Carolyn for the Virgin London Marathon, visit www.fbatbt.co.uk