On the 26^th October, our 6-month-old daughter Sienna was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma a type of children’s cancer. My wife found a lump in her groin and after taking her to our local hospital we were rushed to the LGI where they confirmed the diagnosis. This is a very rare cancer that affects less than 100 children a year, considering 655,000 children were born in 2014, the percentages are very low. We were completely devastated to receive this news and this has now become a very traumatic period of our and our family’s lives.

Neuroblastoma develops from particular types of nerve cells called neuroblasts. ‘Neuro’ means nerve ‘Blast’ means cells in early development ‘Oma’ means a group of cells, or a tumor. Neuroblastoma often starts in the adrenal glands or the
nerve tissue at the back of the abdomen. It can spread to other parts of the body, which it has done in Sienna. Sienna’s Neuroblastoma primary tumor is 10x10x12cm in size and is in the left side of her abdomen. In addition, the tumors have
spread to the right side of her abdomen, sheath of the spinal cord, lymph node in her neck, thigh muscles, liver and the bones around her eyes.

Sienna will require between 4 and 8 Chemotherapy treatment rounds every 3 weeks and then surgery to remove the primary tumor once it has decreased in size. As a result of the amazing treatment from the LGI and all the consultants, doctors, nurses and support workers, we have decided to run the Leeds Half Marathon for a number of charities. The charities we have selected are;

Neuroblastoma Registered Charity No. 326385

Leeds Children’s Hospital Reg Charity Number 1075308

Candlelighters Registered Charity No: 1045077

The Sick Children's Trust Registered Charity No. 284416

For those who know me will often hear me say that “I am built for comfort and not for speed’, but I would like to give my support to these amazing charities by running the Leeds Half Marathon (LHM) in 2016.  I have the support of my siblings, who have also decided to run the LHM with me. The money raised will be sent directly to the charity in order to assist in research and support for families that are going through a stressful and traumatic time, upon receiving the news that their child has cancer.

We would like to say thank you very much for your support to these fantastic charities. Your donations mean so much to all of us and, of course, to Neuroblastoma, Leeds Children’s Hospital and Candlelighters. Every single penny or pound donated is very much appreciated, so please give what you can and support our chosen charities.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

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.