Thanks for taking the time to visit Hollie's JustGiving page.

Hollie was 11 when she was diagnosed with a Medulloblastoma Brain Tumour. She was pragmatic and loathed self-pity and as such she dictated her treatment, propped up her family and friends trying everything to ensure that all those around her did not descent into the depths of despair; a common occurrence of family and friends when discovering a loved one has been diagnosed with Cancer.

Hollie underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and neuro surgery on a number of occasions. She was a long term patient of Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge and latterly at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham. Under Professor Garth Cruickshank PhD, MBBS, FRCS(Ed), FRCS(Eng), FRCS(SN).

Hollie remained active in the years following her diagnosis and initially after a few months out of school when her initial tumour was removed she returned to school eventually moving on to Braintree College to study Business Management. After leaving school and whilst at college she worked at McDonalds and enjoyed socializing and holidays. She travelled to the States and Europe on a number of occasions and went a number of times on holiday with Camp Quality. The last time she went with Camp Quality she was joined by her good friend, Nadia, who was her cousin , Michael’s girlfriend. Unfortunately, Nadia too had developed cancer but the pair of them continued to enjoy life to the maximum.

Hollie stayed in remission for a number of years assisted by many drugs but eventually in 2002 the tumour returned with a vengeance and there was little that could be done except palliative care. However, Hollie was not going to settle for such care and wanted to “get stuck in”. Having read about some new techniques for operating on the brain whilst semi-conscious and deciding that, in her words, “the only way to beat this disease is to take it on no matter what the risks” she asked Professor Garth Cruickshank to see her. He did very quickly and told Hollie in no uncertain terms that if he operated then there was a distinct chance that she could die during surgery of suffer permanent paralysis. Hollie wasn’t fazed by that statement and, again to quote Hollie, she shad to the Professor “if I die would you have learnt something that would help others in the future?” the Professor replied “yes”. Hollie then said “that’s fine then, lets operate. If it doesn’t work for me and it helps in some way someone else in the future then at least I’ve done something constructive and helped in some small way”.

The Professor operated on Hollie in October 2003 but surgery was not successful as the reach and integration of the tumour with health brain tissue was such that it was impossible to remove. Hollie returned home but her health deteriorated. She died peacefully aged 18 in her sleep at home in her own bed on the 17 December 2003. She had caught a cold which she was unable to shake off. Her immune system, depleted by drugs, couldn’t cope and she left us in a way which we are thankful for, without discomfort and pain.

Her friend, Nadia passed away within a year of Hollie at the Farleigh Hospice, Chelmsford.

In June 1996 I had to sit Hollie down and tell her of her diagnosis the results of a “simple” scan for some headaches. She was 11 but incredibly “adult”, so, Karen and I made a conscious decision to be as honest as possible with her about her diagnosis. I remember telling her the diagnosis. She looked at me and said, “Dad, does this mean I’m going to die?” I said “I don’t know, darling. But we are going to do all we can to make sure meet this challenge head on and deal with it”. Hollie grinned at me and said “OK Dad, let’s just do it then”. I was quite frankly astonished by her attitude, no tears no self-pity just a positive attitude. That’s how Hollie was. She never complained and always went out of her way to comfort others as if it were they who was unwell.

The day she died she said to Karen that she was tired and had had enough. Within hours she’d left us and I like to think that she chose the moment,

We miss her tremendously. There is a hole in our family that will never be filled but we wouldn’t have it any other way. We are simply glad that she chose to be with us for 18 years and enriched our lives so much.

I created this JustGiving page after I decided not to send Christmas cards this year (2011). The economic climate means that there is less money available to donate to charity as families quite rightly review their expenditure. Charities are seeing less donations and I decided to donate the amount I would have spent of Christmas cards to charity. CLICK Sargent and Camp Quality are two charities that I have supported over the years and so they have benefited from an additional donation from me in December 2011. I emailed friends and work colleagues to tell them what I planned to do and a number responded by saying that making a charitable donation as I had was a good idea at this time and that they had, indeed donated themselves on behalf of Hollie. I then had a colleague pop into see; she handed to me a significant donation from her and others in our service area. I was very moved by the generosity of people and quite frankly taken aback because my email was simply designed to explain to friends and colleagues why I hadn’t sent them a Christmas card. It was never my intention to “invite” people to donate.

Sometimes we become embroiled in our lives and forget that in the main people are generous, kind and caring. I have been reminded of that in recent days and I have been sincerely moved by the actions of those who have stepped up and given so generously. I have donated that amount in the name of the Service and hope they don’t mind that I haven’t named them all individually. I thought that setting up this JustGiving page in Hollie’s name will provide recognition and give thanks to those who donated.

I have taken the decision to just have this page for Camp Quality. They not a large charity and as such they are vulnerable in poor economic conditions, such as we have now.

Hollie loved going away with them as they gave her the opportunity to be independent and engage in challenging activities. They need our help in order that they can continue to provide holidays for those who are unwell and need specialist care.

Thank you again for your contribution. I’m very chuffed!

Regards,

David.

21/12/11

More information on Hollie’s condition can be found at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medulloblastoma

http://www.macmillan.org.uk/Cancerinformation/Cancertypes/Brain/Typesofbraintumours/Medulloblastoma.aspx

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