Our 2 year old daughter Ripley was diagnosed with high risk Acute Myeloid Leukaemia in January 2017. Throughout her treatment we were supported by countless healthcare professionals and charities all doing their best to make things as easy as possible for us as a family. Unfortunately Ripley passed away as a result of her Leukaemia in October 2017.

We were lucky that Ripley remained her usual energetic and cheeky self until the very end. She had a positive impact on the lives of everyone she met and was a kind and empathetic little girl who didn’t like to see anyone else sad or in pain. We are fundraising for the many charities that supported us in this time so that they can continue their great work supporting other families, easing some of their sadness and pain, in memory of Ripley.

You can see all of the charities we are supporting and events that we are holding in Ripley’s memory on her Just Giving Page:

https://www.justgiving.com/remember/497598/Ripley%20Olive-Corless

Charlton Farm is just outside of Bristol and is one of the hospices run by Children's Hospice South West for respite and end of life care. It is where we spent our last few weeks with Ripley and she loved every minute she was there. 

Whilst we were there nothing was too much for the staff to do to help us. Ripley loved the sandpit and so when it was too cold/dark/wet to go outside for her to play they brought the sand to her inside. Ripley loved throwing pennies in the water fountain but the drive to Cribbs Causeway was sometime too much for her and so they managed to find her own personal water fountain that we could keep in her room. It didn't matter that her hand-printing activity turned to foot-printing, belly-printing and even bottom-printing covering the floor in ink. They would just tidy it up when she had moved onto the next activity prioritising her enjoyment at every opportunity.

The staff were not only great with Ripley, they were a huge help to us not only as parents, but also to our wider family and friends that visited and stayed with us. They made sure that we were looking after ourselves as well as Ripley, providing drinks, food and an endless supply of cake.

In the days following Ripley's death, the staff took care of everything that needed to be done. Helping us with the funeral arrangements, making all the phone calls and arranging the relevant meetings. We have a wonderful funeral for Ripley celebrating her life and all the things that she loved which we couldn't have done without the support of everyone at Charlton Farm.

Charlton Farm and its staff and volunteers do an amazing job with all their children and families, but for us they really did make an unimaginable situation bearable and helped us through it one step at a time. It's for this reason that we are raising money for everyone at Charlton Farm so families can continue to benefit from their amazing services.

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.