Catfish singer's family donate to NHS in his memory

Matt Long was cared for at Royal Surrey's Onslow Ward

The family of the singer in the band Catfish, who died from bowel cancer, have donated an ultrasound machine to the NHS trust which cared for him.

Multi-award-winning guitarist, singer, and songwriter Matt Long passed away in October last year, just 18 months after being diagnosed with bowel cancer.

In memory of the 29-year-old, Matt's family has donated the machine to the Onslow Ward at the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust.

His parents Fiona and Paul Long say they hope "this machine will make other people's cancer journeys a little easier".

"Matt would have liked that," they said.

His mother told BBC Radio Surrey: "He was a very sweet natured guy, very kind, very loving.

"He became almost obsessed with the guitar from a very early age and took himself off to his room and learned everything off the radio."

The decorated performer, who was part of the British blues-rock band Catfish, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in spring 2023.

This then spread to his liver and stomach lining, and after exhausting all available treatment on the NHS, Matt's loved ones raised over £100,000 for further life-extending treatment.

Matt's family are also sponsoring a scholarship in his name at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford where he studied

During his treatment Matt suffered from repeated ascites, the painful build-up of fluid in the lining of his abdomen.

The fluid is located with an ultrasound scanner so that it can be drained.

Matt had to make repeated visits to the hospital's radiology department for this procedure, which his parents hope will be made easier for other people with this donation.

They said: "Sadly, the money couldn't save him, but it does mean we have funds available to provide this piece of equipment to Onslow Ward.

"We hope that having this available on the ward will save future cancer patients from having to wait for a slot in radiology for ascites scans, allowing these to be done at their bedside."

A number of the trust's oncology nurses are currently undergoing training to use the ultrasound scanner.

Sarah Etherington, associate director of nursing for oncology, said: "We are incredibly grateful to Matt's family for their generous donation, which will enable faster symptom relief and significantly improve patients' quality of life."

In another tribute to Matt, his bandmates have finished and recorded demos that were found on his computer and mobile phone.

"Matt's final music should be heard," said Paul.

A new scholarship has also been created in his name at ACM Music College Guildford, where he studied, for a blues or blue-influenced guitarist.