Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Young Lives vs Cancer are so important to our family as they provided Katie and the whole family with support throughout Katie's diagnosis and beyond. 

We have chosen £13,376 as it represents 1 night in a Home from Home for a whole year (£38 x 352) Last year 1 family stayed 104 nights in Paul's House. Please donate what you can and share our video far and wide.

The story behind our fundraising:

Our beautiful wee Katie was diagnosed with leukaemia, My Sister Victoria noticed bumps on Katie’s head that she had previously mentioned to the doctors at her 8 week injections but was told they were probably to do with her fontanel (I’m not sure of correct spelling) so she took Katie home and believed that. Katie had started to go off her bottle, Victoria thought it was teeth, then one Saturday morning Victoria woke to Katie vomiting a lot in her Moses basket.

Victoria took Katie to out of hours doctor and they said that she must have a tummy bug but the doctor said her tummy looked very full, Victoria remembers thinking I don’t know how it could be full when she’s not eating great. 2 days later she noticed the bumps on Katie’s head bigger, so she made an appointment in her own surgery the following morning and when Dr Glancy saw Katie, he checked her breathing and she knew by his face that something wasn’t right. He typed a letter to accompany them to paeds in Antrim. 

They ran tests and they got the unimaginable news that they were 99% sure that Katie had leukaemia, she was so poorly she needed a blood transfusion straight away. Then they were sent to children’s
haematology in the Royal where a bone marrow test was carried out the next day. To our horror that 1% that we held onto in the hope that the doctors had got it wrong became our worst nightmare.

I will never forget the moment I found out, it still haunts me to this day, I can still hear my brother in law telling me on the phone.

Katie was 9 days shy of 3 months old on this day, my family went to the hospital that evening to find out what had happened and what can be done to save her, when I walked into the room Victoria was holding Katie and my brother in law (Glen from here on in) was standing in the corner looking so broken, Glen is a Rock, so strong and tough in bad times, seeing him stand in the corner the way he did will stick with me for the rest of my life!

Victoria remembers a girl Gillian coming in from CLIC Sargent (Young Lives vs Cancer) with information about how the charity could help...travel costs etc. Then through time Paul’s house when it was
completed, allowing them as a family to be together.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, Victoria and Glen tried everything whilst still trying to be a parent to Amy who they fostered from a very young age, Amy is now permanently with Victoria and Glen, they were trying to hold their wee family together whilst living in hospital, CLIC Sargent had been a real blessing for Victoria ,Glen and Amy as they were able to stay close to the hospital in Paul’s house and try to live some sort of normality, Victoria would always be by Katie’s side as Glen was trying to keep there family afloat with work, they were building a new house at this time and the build was well and truly in full flow, this giving some focus for them both!

Katie had briefly gone into remission and I remember the very moment I found out, I cried and then celebrated, this was amazing our wee Katie was saved. Tragically not long after, the cancer came back and it was more aggressive, more tests, more bad results more hurt, whilst trying to stay strong. For Victoria and Glen it simply was living a nightmare, all along we all tried to stay positive.

Katie spent some time in Sheffield England and was almost going to Germany to try a different treatment, but they brought the treatment from Germany to England, Victoria and Glen were willing to try everything, they did try everything

Katie celebrated her first birthday party with an amazing party at home, we were lucky to have her home for this as results were not good, Katie smiled like no other child ❤️ a little princess going through hell on earth and didn’t even know it.

Fast forward 39 days and the worst day imaginable happened, Katie died in her mummy and daddies arms in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Belfast, this is so hard to tell as you relive moments no one should ever have to go through.

Katie was the most loved child on Earth as she is in Heaven, stronger than all of us, missed beyond measure, the impact our wee Katie left on me will stay with me until the day I die 💔

I hope this single can bring some hope to other families through the money we raise and also because music plays such a special part in people's hearts that it may help support another family in hope or help with the grieving process.

Young Lives vs Cancer offer a complete service that focuses on emotional, practical and financial support and their Homes from Homes are amazing. Please view the gallery for pictures of Katie and Pauls' House that we stayed in. Paul's House is 1 of 10 Young Lives vs Cancer Homes from Home throughout the UK.

They are powered by the kindness of donations of supporters like you, please donate what you can and share our video everywhere..

Thank you for watching, donating and sharing.

p.s watch out as the single will be released soon too!

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.