THE wraps are off a £2.5 million teenage cancer unit inspired by the loss of a talented teenager.

The unit was made possible by an astonishing four-year fundraising effort that started with a story in the Hereford Times.

Nearly £900,000 has been raised in the name of Laurie Engel since his death in 2005 through a charity that, quite literally, began at home but went further than anyone ever thought possible.

The funding found so far helped get the six-bed unit built at Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH). What more there is to come will help keep the unit, which opened on Friday, going.

The Hereford Times told Laurie’s story from the off.

He was a highly talented 13- year-old who fought an aggressive cancer for as long as he could, wishing only that if he was to die with so much to offer that his death had to make a difference.

The paper has also told the stories behind a host of fundraising events – this week we can present the pay-off.

Soon after losing Laurie in 2005, his parents Matthew and Hilary Engel, of Bacton, set up a fund with the initial aim of assisting the Teenage Cancer Trust in its work. The response was overwhelming, sustaining the fund through what it took to get a dedicated teen cancer unit at BCH.

Laurie’s fund bridged generation gaps to span the world but always came back home to community staples like coffee mornings, collections and sponsored events.

The Engels have paid fulsome tributes of their own to these efforts over the years.

From that first story, individuals have, says Hilary, been “inspired to do remarkable things”. In turn, the Engels say they have never stopped being amazed.