The family of a Mansfield businesswoman who died from a rare form of cancer has raised thousands of pounds to support research into the condition.

Darshana Nagar ran The Teahouse in Carr Bank Park, Mansfield, but died in September 2022, aged 47, after a phyllodes tumour in her breast became cancerous and the disease spread to her brain.

Since then her family and friends, including staff and customers at The Teahouse, have been fundraising in her memory.

And on Valentine’s Day Darshana’s widow, Sandip Nagar, and daughter, Khaya Nagar, donated £50,000 to University College London Hospitals (UCLH) (above), where his wife was treated.

A spokesperson for the UCLH Charity said: “The funds raised will be used to create a website for patients to access high-quality information and will also be invested in research.

“We are very grateful for the incredible donation raised by Sandip, his family, and friends to help support research into phyllodes tumours, a rare form of cancer.”

Sandip, of Calverton, said the donation, made on Valentine’s Day, was his gift to his wife.

“I knew what kind of character she was. She wanted to make sure she was out there supporting other women with this condition, so I thought I have to do something,” he added.

He set up a charity, Rare, to raise money for research into phyllodes tumours.

Sandip said: “My wife’s story unfortunately ended the way it did, but her legacy and everything she was about has created so much more for other women to survive from this.”

Darshana’s had suffered from a lump in her breast for six years, which was benign. However, doctors later discovered that the phyllodes tumour had become malignant.

The lump was removed, but returned three months later and eventually a body scan showed the cancer had spread to her brain.

Specialists at UCL now give all their phyllodes patients a head scan as standard to monitor for such an occurence.

Dr Mahbubl Ahmed, consultant clinical oncologist at UCLH who accepted the donation, explains, “Phyllodes tumours are rare. For the malignant there are only 60 new cases in England per year. Due to the rarity there is a lack of clinical evidence as to how to manage these tumours.

“We have recently developed a national guideline to help improve outcomes. The money raised by Sandip will help support a website for patients and research projects to improve the outcome of patients in future.”

The family’s fundraising to help other patients saw around £39,000 collected over a year, with an anonymous donor topping up the total to £50,000.

The donation included funds raised by Darshana’s son, Rhyun Nagar, who completed the Three Peaks challenge, and her daughter, Khaya, through sports events at Loughborough and Liverpool John Moores universities.