Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

A beautiful young lady called Kirsty (Binnie as everyone knows her) started raising money for both the teenage cancer trust and the Christie hospital in Manchester.

We are now part of the fund raising team for the research into Osteosarcoma, the type of cancer that took our Chris far too early; he was only 22 years old.

This is her story below; please take the time to read it.

It's hard to explain the bond created when you meet a group of random strangers and decide to camp with them at a festival... and then continue that tradition every year after that. Each year the bond is stronger and the friendship grows... It's a beautiful thing really, to go from strangers to basically family, and the good times and memories will stay with you forever.

Unfortunately not every story can be smooth sailing...

This story is about a boy named Chris Hartley.

Chris joined our Download family in June 2013, and although only meeting us for the first time, within a couple of hours he was one of us, and that weekend was one of our best. 

In the April of 2014 Chris was diagnosed with "Osteosarcoma"
Bone Cancer, and started his treatment on the 16 June, in the Teenage Cancer Trust ward, in the Bexley wing of Leeds St. James hospital.

Chris had surgery in September 2014 to remove a tumour from his humours, and was fitted with a titanium replacement. Then he underwent a gruelling 20 weeks of chemotherapy which included being in hospital over the Christmas & New Year break.

Chris finished his chemotherapy the beginning of February and was
looking forward to finally getting his life back! Unfortunately an MRI scan at the end of February showed that there was a suspicious lesion in the soft tissue of the same arm as before. A biopsy confirmed the worst. Chris then under went further surgery to remove this new tumour.

Finally thinking that our friend had won his battle, we started getting ready for Download 2015! Everyone was ecstatic that Chris would be able to attend this year in good health, and you could feel the excitement in every message sent.

Unfortunately with only two weeks to go we received another heart-breaking message from Chris. Once again the cancer was back in his arm. This time the Doctor decided the best course of action was amputation of his right arm and shoulder blade.
 hey gave Chris the option of the Tuesday before Download festival, or the Tuesday after... Being the rock 'n' roll hero that he is, Chris came to
download and we partied harder than ever, and we really did have the best weekend of our lives, all of us together as one big family.

The surgery went well, and Chris was incredible throughout it all.

August 2015 we received yet another blow. With only two months since his last surgery, Chris was told his cancer had resurfaced underneath the scar from his previous surgery, in the soft tissue in his chest wall. A CT scan then revealed that the cancer had spread to his lungs. This time the Doctor heartbreakingly informed Chris that it was a matter of slowing the cancer down, rather than curing it.

The decision was made that Chris' treatment would continue, but this time at the Christie, in Manchester. Chris was due to start a new course of chemotherapy on the 21st September.

On Saturday 12 September, whilst on holiday, Chris’ right lung collapsed. Once home Chris had a CT scan which revealed an estimated 6 litres of fluid sat on his lung in his chest, which they started to drain, and left Chris with one working lung. On Monday 21st Chris had to have a drain fitted for his left lung, as that had also started to fill with fluid.

On the evening of Wednesday 23rd, Chris’ right lung collapsed again, and due to problems with his breathing, the decision was made to move him to the critical care unit.

On Saturday morning Chris’ was taken for keyhole surgery to try and relieve some of the pressure on his lungs. Once in surgery what was presumed to be fluid causing the difficulties for Chris, turned out to be a tumour. Chris was kept sedated and put on a ventilator to assist him with his breathing. Due to the discovery in surgery, and the extent of the tumours, Chris’ family were notified that he would not likely come round.

On Monday 28th September Chris passed away peacefully in his sleep,
surrounded by his family and all his closest friends. 

I cannot put in to words how amazing Chris was, especially how he dealt with everything… even with a smile on his face. All of us would say the same, we have never met someone who was as brave, and positive, and inspiring as Chris Hartley.

So now it is our turn! But we need your help...

We want to raise as much as possible... So donate what you can and share the page! Get Chris' story out there.

The speed and level of care that Chris received cannot be faulted, and
we want to show our support not only to Chris, and his family, but to the
people, and places that looked after our boy.

This is for the Christie hospital; they are the best bone cancer unit in
Europe and engineer pioneering treatments to patients with bone cancer.

So please give as much or a little as you can, we know so many kind and
generous friends have already donated.

TO DONATE

TEXT TCHL92 £amount to 70070

Also go to our just giving page

wwww.justgiving.com/the-chris-hartley-legacy

Thank you x