THE husband of a woman who died from a rare form of cancer has started raising money so he can he can fund a PhD study to research the disease.

Steve Dunster lost his wife Sharon last November, at the age of just 65, to mucosal melanoma and has now set up a foundation, as research into the disease isn’t funded by the NHS.

Sharon’s consultant Tim Crook matched the money donated at Sharon’s funeral and through his contacts at the Imperial College in London managed to get a grant to get a young doctor started on her PhD, studying the condition.

Mr Dunster needs to raise £90,000 to fund the three-year PhD course, divided into £30,000 per academic year.

Recently, the residents of Kingfisher Lodge, a retirement community in Great Baddow where Sharon’s mother, Joan Miller, 94, is a resident, held a coffee and cake morning to raise money for the cause.

A final figure of £555 was raised, well over the expected £200.

Mr Dunster said: “It was unbelievable that we raised so much in one event. “This is a disease which is not researched by the NHS and its these kind of donations that are going to get us to our goal of funding the PhD.”

There is a Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/ crowdfunding/steve-dunster