Whatever creed, colour or social background we belong to, we are united as human beings by our love for our children. Having a seriously ill child in hospital fragments the tightest of families, physically as well as spiritually for single parents the implications are even harder to imagine.

Chemotherapy treatment is supposed to attack the illness but it attacks the spirit too. Throughout her illness, Katie retained her normal joie de vivre, and in doing so helped us to remain strong. It is not so easy for every family, and no parent should experience the despair that arises when abject misery replaces the normal optimism and innocence that has previously defined your child.

Therefore the Katie Nugent Fund has been established within the CMRF to provide psychological and emotional support for the children on St Johns Ward in Crumlin, and their families, throughout the period of their treatment.

Nick, Alice and Lucy Nugent