THE family of inspirational Alvechurch boy Finlay Church, who died of cancer in 2015, have donated a state-of-the-art MRI-friendly television in his memory.

Penny Church visited the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, who supported her son before he lost his 18-month cancer battle in November 2015, on June 21 to unveil the TV at the site.

With the help of brave Finlay, his family have raised an incredible £21,550 to fund the specialist TV, which has been put in hospital’s magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) suite.

The special TV is MRI-compatible, meaning it does not interfere with any imaging and gives children a welcome distraction during their 40-minute scans which can often be daunting.

Penny, 43, said: “Birmingham Children’s Hospital is a place no parent or family should have to go to, but the hospital has truly incredible doctors, nurses and surgeons – some of the best in the world – and we cannot thank them enough for everything they did for our darling boy, Finlay.

“As a family, we wanted to raise as much money as possible, to not only maintain the world-class care at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, but also help with life-saving research to help other children in the future fighting Fin’s horrendous disease.

“It was an honour to visit the children’s hospital today to unveil our TV and see the positive impact our donations have made.

“Fundraising was part of Fin’s legacy and supporting the MRI suite was something Fin was particularly passionate about.

“His brain scans sometimes lasted over an hour and he felt the TV would make the experience for children, like him, that little bit easier."

The TV will also enable the MRI scanner to see how patients’ brains are processing pictures, allowing staff to gain a better understanding of conditions.

In addition, the Church family has also donated a further £29,037 to Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity to help other children cared for by the hospital’s Oncology Unit.

Finlay’s doctor, Professor Andrew Peet, Professor of Paediatric Oncology at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, added: “Brave Finlay’s courage and inspiration touched us all and we’re truly grateful to the Church family for raising such an outstanding amount of money for our hospital, allowing us to continue to push boundaries and improve standards of excellence in research, education and treatment.

“Accurate clinical imaging is vital in diagnosing and treating many different conditions and it was humbling to attend Finlay’s TV unveiling today, which will help us to entertain, educate and reassure patients during important MRI scans. Once again, a huge, huge thank you to the Church family.”