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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£1 a mile seems a small price for such a wrthy cause. Good luck to you

Donation by Scott Anderson on 05/03/12

£30.00

+ £7.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck to you all - watch out for all those potholes !! I am going to Millport this weekend so I will look out for you through the pub window !!

Donation by COLIN GRAHAM on 05/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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good luck pam ! x

Donation by derrick louden on 05/03/12

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Girls, lots of luck and happy sore bottoms. Hx

Donation by hilary Joiner on 05/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck Karen! Hope it goes well and no a&e required!

Donation by Jenny Gemmell on 05/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Claire, hope you all have a good day on Saturday.

Donation by Leanne Brown on 05/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Happy cycling Claire hope the weather is in your favour! Ann

Donation by Ann Egan on 05/03/12

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Oooh, good for you Claire! More power to your little legs! Have a fun day out - here's hoping the weather holds out for you! Go girls!

Donation by Avril Valentine on 05/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Clare - oooh sore bottoms to follow!! well done xxx

Donation by Danielle Mcmanus on 05/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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I came in 2nd when I done it last year Claire so you need to beat me!! Although I only done one lap.....Good luck x

Donation by Alison McCutcheon on 05/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Siobhan and the rest of the team. Hope you have a good sunny day for the cycle. Good Luck

Donation by Jacqui Rutherford on 04/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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good luck ladies you can do it!!! Julies aunt Eileen xx

Donation by Eileen McLean on 03/03/12

£5.00

+ £1.25 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Girls! xxx

Donation by Michelle Cullen on 02/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Siobhan and all the lovely ladies . Hope it is a great day and the sun shines on you all . xxxx

Donation by laura walker on 02/03/12

£50.00

+ £12.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck and happy pedalling xx

Donation by Babs x on 02/03/12

£50.00

+ £12.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck!

Donation by Debbie Carter on 02/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good Luck Siobhan, You have already raised a staggering amount and I hope you make your target . Enjoy the day ...

Donation by Bruce on 02/03/12

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Good luck Kim, from Bobby and family xxx

Donation by Kim Agnew on 02/03/12

£20.00

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Good luck ;-)

Donation by Sarah Johnston on 02/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck to all of you on your cycle especially Nicky and Issy. Hope the weather is kind to you.

Donation by Jean Edgar and Steph Dundas on 02/03/12

£10.00

Donation by Anonymous on 02/03/12

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Good luck with your cycle!!

Donation by David Armstrong on 02/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck Siobhan - Go Girl !

Donation by Lorna Kerr on 02/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Good luck with the cycle. Hope the weather's kind for you.

Donation by Paul Sermanni on 02/03/12

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Good luck, worthy cause. 30 miles? ... a mere warm-up for you ;-)

Donation by Allan Scott on 02/03/12

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

Donation summary

  • * Online donations£18,399.29
  • Offline donations£962.00
  • Text donations£0.00
  • Total raised£19,361.29
  • Gift Aid£3,881.09

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