Jason Kanabus (15 June 1976 – 6 July 2006) was a member of the Sainsbury supermarket family, and on his death he left £2.5 million to charity.

Working life and hobby

Jason Kanabus was brought up on his parents' farm near

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, his mother Annabel Kanabus being the youngest child of Sir Robert Sainsbury. He attended the local comprehensive school and on leaving school he studied at Brinsbury agricultural college before deciding to work on the family farm. Jason Kanabus's hobby was

lawn mower racing Lawnmower racing is a form of motorsport in which competitors race modified lawnmowers, usually of the ride-on or self-propelled variety. The original mower engines are retained, but blades are removed for safety. The sport attracts all ages, an ...

, and he was a successful racer, regularly winning races as well as helping to further develop the sport.

Cancer and death

In June 2004 he was diagnosed with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

and despite undergoing operations and

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemotherap ...

the cancer progressed. On his 30th birthday on 15 June 2006 he inherited £2.5 million from a trust fund set up for him by his grandfather. Just three weeks later he was told by doctors at the

Royal Marsden hospital The Royal Marsden Hospital (RM) is a specialist cancer treatment hospital in London based in Kensington and Chelsea, next to the Royal Brompton Hospital, in Fulham Road with a second site in Belmont, close to Sutton Hospital, High Down and D ...

that he was terminally ill and that he probably only had a few months to live. The next day he collapsed and died. After his death, his mother wrote in his memory the popular web page, "Am I Going to Die?" to help other families with a young person facing a

terminal illness Terminal illness or end-stage disease is a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and is expected to result in the death of the patient. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as cancer, dementia or advanced he ...

, as well as a website about

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

, which kills many people of Kanabus's age.

Legacy for farming

In his will he left the whole of the £2.5 million he had inherited to the

Prince's Trust The Prince's Trust ( cy, Ymddiriedolaeth y Tywysog) is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) to help vulnerable young people get their lives on track. It supports 11-to-30-year-olds who are u ...

, with the request that the money be used to help young people become established in farming. There has since been some controversy over the use of the Fund by the Prince's Trust, with claims being made that the Trust has failed to establish young people in farming, as stipulated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kanabus, Jason 1976 births 2006 deaths English people of Dutch-Jewish descent English philanthropists People from Horsham District Deaths from cancer in England 20th-century British philanthropists