Thank you for visiting my fundraising page.

My son, Jack was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia In November 2003, just aged 4.  He underwent chemo and a bone marrow transplant in February 2004 for which his brother, Joe, then aged 8, was the donor. 

Jack remained in remission for over 2 years but in August 2006 he relapsed.  He received further chemo from which he developed a life threatening fungal infection on his lungs.  Miraculously Jack recovered from this and went on to find out that he was remission again, however the lung infection had left him too weak to undergo a 2nd bone marrow transplant. 

For just over a year Jack remained well but following a routine bone marrow test it was confirmed that Jack had relapsed a 2nd time.  He had to undergo more chemo and radiotherapy and an unrelated donor was found for his 2nd bone marrow transplant.  In May 2008 Jack was admitted for his transplant and spent 2 months in hospital.  Sadly, Jack developed chest problems and it was found had developed pneumonia.  He passed away on 23 July 2008, aged 9, with myself and his dad led beside him, holding his brother's hand. 

Through all of this Jack remained a strong character, he had a wicked sense of humour and endless sense of fun.  Our home feels so empty without him and I feel that I need to do something positive out of something that has brought me and my family so much pain and sadness.

This fundraising page is for Jack's Star Tribute Fund which I set up in Jack's memory through the Wallace & Gromit Grand Appeal to raise funds for the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and Oncology Ward at the Bristol Children's Hospital  in the hope that I can help make life a little better for all those children I have met over the past years and sadly, for those who will be newly diagnosed in the future.  I cannot thank Jack's Drs, Nurses and other hospital staff enough for the care that he received during all the time we spent at the hospital. 

Cancer is a terrible disease and it doesn't care who it takes as its victims. 

I was able to really kick start Jack's fund as extremely generous friends, family and work colleagues donated over £2,000 following Jack's funeral for which I send out a huge thank you. 

Since then many donations have come flooding in for various fundraising events, I have listed a few below:

Oct 08 - Jack's Uncle Scott organised a Cut-a-thon at the Graham Webb Hairdressing Academy in Washington, USA raising just over £4,000 - apparently Jack is now pretty well known in Washington as the Cut-a-thon was advertised on local radio stations and news channels!

Dec 08 - work colleagues held a Christmas raffle, raising over £900.

Feb 09 - my Goddaughter, Holly, made and sold Valentines Day cards to her family and friends, raising over £70.

March 09 - 'Team Jack' completed the Bath Half Marathon  (Jack's birthday is on 4th March) raising over £8,500.  I was joined by Jack's Grandad and friends to endure a gruelling 13.1miles in unusually warm temperatures. 

March 09 - 'Team Jack USA' completed the Washington DC Half Marathon.  My brother, Scott and his friends, Fred and Julio completed the course in an impressive 2hrs 15 mins.  They raised just over £2,000.

April 09 - a neighbour requested donations to Jack's fund rather than flowers at her husband Harry's funeral raising £400.  She said that Harry used to sit in his chair and watch Joe and Jack go up and down our street on their way to school.

April 09 - St. James Church raised £364 during Lent, taking Jack's fund over £20,000.  Rhys and his family are members of the church and Rhys was in the room next to Jack undergoing his bone marrow transplant at the same time.  He is now at home and doing really well which is fantastic.

June 09 - a dad from Jack's school raised £200 by completing the Iron Man triathlon.

Aug 09 - Rhys' dad, Bill, took part in a 3km open water swim at Dorney Lake near Windsor and raised a grand total of £525.

Sept 09 - with the help of Jack's Uncle Les and Aunty Clare we held an 80's themed party which was a huge success, raising a fantastic sum of £2,041.

Sept 09 - Jack's crazy Aunty Emily (my little sis!) took to the skies in a light aircraft and skydived her way back down to earth raising a grand total of £400.  I went along to watch and I can tell you - it really isn't for the fainthearted!

I cannot tell you how much it means to me when I see how much people have been, and still are, supporting Jack's fund and I would like to say a huge thank you to them all.  He was truly a remarkable boy and I miss him every single second of every single day.

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