29 September 2026
The family funded the work first
Friends and family of Daisy Catterall have raised more than £85,000 for research into the rare immune disease that killed her. This week the scientist they have been funding was awarded a Royal Society fellowship of £670,000.
Dr Jessica Manson told the BBC that a Royal Society grant of £670,000 "wouldn't have been possible" without in-memory fundraising from Daisy's friends and family, who she described as "unbelievable people".
Daisy Catterall died on 22 February 2025, aged 25. She was from Cirencester. She worked for Cotswold District Council. She had just bought a house with her boyfriend, Matty Ballinger. Until an infection, she had been fit. Then her immune system, having fought the infection, did not switch off.
That illness is haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, known as HLH. Manson is a consultant rheumatologist at University College Hospital, and the lead there for the disease. She said it can look like sepsis: very high temperatures, a drop in blood pressure, confusion, rashes. The treatment is to suppress the immune system, which sounds wrong if you think you are still treating an infection.
University College London Hospitals already runs an HLH service for adults and adolescents. Since Daisy died, her family and friends have been putting money into research on the same disease at that hospital. They have raised more than £85,000.
More than fifty of them recently did a Tough Mudder. Rachel Catterall, Daisy's mother, had wanted £5,000 from the day. They raised more than £15,000. Matty walked the Three Peaks with a friend. The phrase they use is "Do it for Daisy".
On Thursday 25 September the Royal Society named Dr Alexandra Oppong in its third cohort of Career Development Fellows. The fellowship lasts four years. Her project is to model, and try to change, the hyperinflammatory responses in adults with HLH. The award is £670,000.
The family have been to the hospital. Rachel told the Standard that the doctors and scientists know Daisy's story, and who she is.
"Daisy was just absolutely full of life. She packed a lot into her 25 years."
"We can never bring her back, and nothing will change what happened to her, but if something positive can come from the tragedy of losing her, then it's helping scientists understand HLH."