My story

You can also donate by text message by texting IONA95 and your amount £1 -  £10 to 70070.

Hi everyone, my name is Iona and I am a chatty,cheeky and fun loving little 4 year old. I have two big sisters who I love very much and I like dancing, music, swimming and lots of other things, I'm always really busy!


It hasn't always been that way though. I'm quite big now but I used to be small and I was really sick. I had cancer. I don't really know what that is, but it makes people who love me very scared and sad, and it makes me feel sick and sore. I feel better now, but I wish it would just go away and leave me alone.

 

In November 2008, when Iona was 18 months old, my world collapsed when, after weeks of being unwell, Iona was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer called Neuroblastoma. The tumour in her tummy was huge and her Oncologist said her prognosis was poor. As words rang in my ears and the world crashed down around me, we were admitted to Yorkhill hospital where we were to stay for a very long time. Treatment began immediately and the 14 month protocol was punishing, 8 rounds of chemotherapy, stem cell harvest, 5 hours of surgery to remove the tumour, her left kidney and adrenal gland, high dose chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant, 14 sessions of radiotherapy and 6 months of oral Retonoic Acid. This treatment was accompanied by over 20 general anaesthetics, ongoing nausea and vomiting, complications from the chemo, infections galore, high temperatures and neutropenia but Iona still managed to keep smiling. She gave me the strength to face every day. We watched her grow and develop her little personality throughout and the hope that she would survive carried us closer and closer to the finish line until in December of 2010 Iona was declared NED, no evidence of disease!

 

If only that was the end of the story. Throughout the time we strived for this end point, watching and weeping as many other children didn’t make it, we began to learn that NED is not the end, merely the end of front line treatment and the beginning of another journey. Neuroblastoma has an unacceptably high relapse rate and terrifyingly there is currently no UK relapse protocol. Sadly we have seen far too many children face this heartbreaking situation with no further options, and we just can't face the prospect of being there ourselves one day. We can't stop it coming back, but we can be prepared. There ARE further treatment options abroad, but they come at a huge price, some are around £500,000 but money simply cannot be the stumbling block between life and death. We must be able to provide treatment for Iona should she need it, and with your help we can.

 

Please donate here generously, or whatever you can, and please tell people you know about Iona and help us reach our target. Thank you is not enough, Elaine, Iona's mummy.

 

Or you can donate directly to the NatWest bank, account number: 89524950 Sort Code: 55-81-28.

For further details on ways to donate please visit www.familiesagainstneuroblastoma.org.

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

A donation to a child's individual appeal will be held for the sole use of that child for treatment or for quality of life. Should the child no longer need the money raised in their name, funds will either become available to other children within the charity, moved to our emergency fund, donated to Neuroblastoma research, donated to our general fund, or a combination of all four, as agreed with the family. 

My gallery 1

My Teams

My company

My charity

Families Against Neuroblastoma

Families Against Neuroblastoma

Charity Registration No. 1135974

FAN provides assistance and support in all aspects of dealing with Neuroblastoma. Our main objective is to help get UK children life saving treatment usually only available abroad at great expense. FAN also provides days out, wishes and holidays, campaigns for awareness and change, and more.

Donations 22

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Purchase of pin badges for upcoming wedding .............thank you so much xxxxx

Donation by The Fraser Family on 17/05/13

£40.00

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Money kindly donated by staff and customers in McDonalds Finnieston ! Many thanks x

Donation by McDonalds Finnieston on 17/05/13

£350.00

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Andy Geggan sent me too!! Best wishes to Iona and her family! Xx

Donation by Kerry Phimister on 09/05/13

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

Donation by Brian Wyllie on 08/05/13

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Andy Geggan sent me too !

Donation by Dave on 08/05/13

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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God bless and good luck in the future.

Donation by Jim Cook on 08/05/13

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Andy Geggan sent me!

Donation by Anonymous on 08/05/13

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Donation by Colin Duncan on 07/05/13

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Andy Geggan sent me!

Donation by Paul Philbin on 07/05/13

£20.00

+ £5.00 Gift Aid

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Every little helps. Fu

Donation by Ray Smillie on 06/05/13

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

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Monies raised at the Carrick RFC Ladies day ......thank you to all contributors ! Very much appreciated xx

Donation by Michelle Deans on 25/04/13

£500.00

text donation

Donation by Anonymous on 21/04/13

£3.00

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Funds raised from Lyn Stewart's Easter competition ....... thank you xx xx

Donation by Lyn Stewart on 29/03/13

£206.00

Donation by Anonymous on 15/03/13

£10.00

+ £2.50 Gift Aid

Funds raised from IONA'S BIG PYJAMA PARTY ! Thank you all xxx

Donation by Anonymous on 15/03/13

£1,170.00

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Kindly donated by Betty at The Harvest Clinic-thank you so much xx

Donation by Anonymous on 20/01/13

£45.00

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Received with thanks from Andy,Jim,Kieran and Stuart .....much appreciated boys ! x

Donation by Anonymous on 12/12/12

£20.00

Thank you so much Lily xx xx

Donation by Lily Foote on 17/09/12

£20.00

donation from The Glasgow T-Shirt Man.......thank you so much x

Donation by elaine daniels on 12/09/12

£5.00

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anything we can do to help just ask and we will it was a great day @ the freefor community funday and this is our donation to iona xx :-)

Donation by freefor community funday on 12/06/12

£75.00

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Money raised by Hip Hop Hooligans selling cupcakes at dance classes :)

Donation by Hip Hop Hooligans on 04/05/12

£145.81

+ £36.45 Gift Aid

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Donation by Anonymous on 03/05/12

£3.00

+ £0.75 Gift Aid

Donation summary

  • * Online donations£2,706.81
  • Offline donations£2,406.75
  • Text donations£6.00
  • Total raised£5,119.56
  • Gift Aid£69.70

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