Charity secures ground-breaking research project

A charity backed by a number of Marketing Derby Bondholders, which aims to achieve greater understanding of a rare and catastrophic epilepsy syndrome, has secured a ground-breaking £110,000 research project.

Rachel Liew launched Sam’s Superheroes Foundation after her five-year-old son Sam tragically died in 2021 just seven weeks after falling ill with FIRES (Febrile Infection Related Epilepsy Syndrome) – a sudden-onset epilepsy syndrome that causes relentless seizures and currently has no known cure.

Now, five years later, the charity has announced that its first major research collaboration has been formally approved and included within the Epilepsy Research Institute’s national research portfolio for 2026/27.

The project will be delivered by leading researchers at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health.

For Rachel, the announcement is the culmination of years of fundraising and  campaigning, backed by Bondholders including Penguin PR and Binary.

Rachel said: “Losing Sam was devastating, but from the beginning we knew we wanted his life to leave a lasting legacy.

“To see this research formally approved and moving forward is incredibly emotional. It is undoubtedly the biggest, proudest and most impactful achievement in our charity’s history.”