My story

The photo above is of the beautiful Vanessa Riddle and my daughter Katie sharing a happy moment during their treatment in 2009. Vanessa and her sister Olivia were a huge support to Katie and Libby, and Vanessa was a real role model as she fought this horrible disease with unbelievable courage. Her Parents Connie and Chris were a great support to Neil and I, and through a horrendous situation we became great friends.

Unfortnuately just before Christmas the family were given the devastating news that Vanessa has relapsed and will now need to travel privately to the US for life saving treatment.

Myself and a group friends have decided to challenge ourselves with a 30 mile cycle around Millport on Saturday 10th March 2012, which is the equivelant of 3 laps. Please Please Please sponsor us and help contribute to this very important appeal. Vanessa needs your help.

Please see the below message from Vanessa's Mum and Dad

In Feb 2009 our then 8 year old daughter Vanessa, was diagnosed with Stage 4 (High-Risk) Neuroblastoma, a very rare, aggressive and difficult to treat form of childhood cancer. Fewer than 100 children in the UK are diagnosed with neuroblastoma each year, most of which are below the age of 5 and generally have a better prognosis as the older the child is the worse the prognosis is.

 Since Feb 09, Vanessa has undergone many different treatments at Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow, these include; 12 rounds of High Dose Chemotherapy, two 7 hour surgical operations, the removal of one of her kidneys, a stem cell transplant, Radiotherapy, Retinoic Acid treatment and Immunotherapy treatment……all of which was agonising to watch as parents never mind to have to endure as a child!

 Having undergone all this difficult and often very painful treatment the fact remained that due to a high relapse rate the long term prognosis for Vanessa's survival remained very poor with less than a 40% survival rate. All the same, Vanessa finished her treatment at Yorkhill Hospital in Aug 2010 and was given the all clear.

In Dec 2011 after routine scans, Connie and I were given the devastating news that Vanessa had relapsed. She has many hotspots on the skull, neck, spine, leg & knees. The UK doctors have told us that this time round there is very little chance of survival; “much less than 10%” they said, as we do not have any relapse protocols in the UK. This is due to the Government not investing any money into relapse treatments for this disease. This is a very different story to the United States where there are many relapse protocols and taking her there will dramatically increase her chances of long term survival.

 We now find ourselves in the position of urgently having to take Vanessa to the United States for relapse therapy treatment which the NHS will not fund. The treatment Vanessa requires is likely to involve Antibody Therapy and cost in excess of £500,000. Vanessa’s latest scan results will be used to determine which therapy is best and this is likely to happen at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

 Please help us to raise the funds in order to save Vanessa’s life.

 You can also donate by text message by texting VANY99 and your amount £1 -  £10 to 70070.

 Every single penny counts, no matter how little.

 Thank you for reading and donating

 Chris & Connie Riddle

My gallery 1

My Team

Team photo
Vanessa Riddle Appeal

My company

My charity

Neuroblastoma Children's Cancer Alliance

Neuroblastoma Children's Cancer Alliance

Charity Registration No. 1135601

We help children with neuroblastoma, a very aggressive childhood cancer, if they can't join UK trials or need a clinical treatment that is only available abroad. We help with treatment costs, support families and fund research.

Donations 424

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Good luck with your cycle. x

Donation by Anonymous on 10/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck Auntie Karen. You can do it. Lots of love Ethan Ewart xxx

Donation by Karen Smith on 10/03/12

£100.00

+ £25.00 Gift Aid

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Go Kim Go. I know you can do it. Lxx

Donation by Anonymous on 10/03/12

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Donation by Anonymous on 09/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Lisa from Gillian Nicholls x

Donation by Anonymous on 09/03/12

£5.00

+ £1.25 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Lisa!

Donation by Anonymous on 09/03/12

£5.00

+ £1.25 Gift Aid

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Good luck girls x

Donation by Anonymous on 09/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck and hope the weather isn't too bad. xxx

Donation by elaine dempster on 09/03/12

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Good luck Kim...and everyone else. Fingers crossed for some good weather. Enjoy! x

Donation by Carolyn Dunlop on 09/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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good luck

Donation by Scott Meikle on 09/03/12

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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good luck pam ben will be waiting for hug when u get back. hope u wont be too sore !! see u next week ...... Linda Porch xxxx

Donation by linda wright on 09/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Given this kind donation by Nancy Dowie. Thanks again :)

Donation by Zoe Blake on 09/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Great effort & very best of luck.

Donation by Mike Hankey on 09/03/12

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Good luck girls enjoy it and think how good the wine will taste after it xx

Donation by Fiona McCrorie on 09/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck Karen- just think of all that toffee you will be working off xx

Donation by Michelle Ierna on 09/03/12

£50.00

+ £12.50 Gift Aid

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Well worthwhile cause - best of luck to everyone shirley bowman xx

Donation by shirley BOWMAN on 09/03/12

£5.00

+ £1.25 Gift Aid

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Go for it girl good luck xxxx

Donation by Catherine monaghan on 09/03/12

£5.00

+ £1.25 Gift Aid

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Good luck Pam, hope your muscles arent too sore tomorrow, but im sure Rick will give you a massage. karen x

Donation by karen mcdougall on 09/03/12

£5.00

+ £1.25 Gift Aid

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Good luck Mummy, Auntie Tracey and all the rest of the cycling ladies. I'll be cheering you on all the way. Ben xxx

Donation by Ben Harvey on 09/03/12

£50.00

+ £12.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck to Tracey and Pamela and all the other ladies!!!

Donation by Juli Mcdonald on 09/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Clare! you will definitely need that rubber ring next week! ;-)

Donation by Martin Cameron on 09/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

Good luck tomorrow Lisa, Kim and Lauren (and everyone else who's doing it with you). Love From Gary, Lorna and Brooke

Donation by Lorna Russell on 09/03/12

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Good luck everyone (me included!) Hope the weather is with us!!! x

Donation by Pamela Harvey on 09/03/12

£50.00

+ £12.50 Gift Aid

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Best of luck Nicola, may all the roads be flat ones!

Donation by Gary Killington on 09/03/12

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Best of luck!

Donation by alasdair macinnes on 09/03/12

Donation summary

  • * Online donations$27,934.26
  • Offline donations$1,460.53
  • Text donations$0.00
  • Total raised$29,394.79
  • Gift Aid$5,892.36

* Charities pay a small fee for our service. Find out how much it is and what we do for it.