Our precious and beautiful daughter Mia entered the world on
8 June 2009. We were the proudest parents ever and settled into parent hood very well. However from the age of around 2 months old Mia developed feeding problems which progressively got worse.

In October 2009, Mia at just 4 months old was diagnosed with
Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL).

Nothing could have prepared us for this diagnosis and in that moment our world came crashing down around us and our lives were turned
upside down and inside out. From that day our lives changed forever.

Mia was extremely poorly as the disease was taking over and
she was admitted to Addenbrooke's Hospital immediately. She had a hickman line inserted and following initial tests we quickly had to come to terms with the fact that she had been placed at very high risk for her disease, because her Leukaemia was so aggressive and much harder to treat in babies of her age.

She then began an initial induction course of steroids and
chemotherapy to try and bring her Leukaemia under control. In November 2009, at the end of her induction course we were ecstatic to receive the news that Mia’s cancer was in remission, allowing doctors to offer further treatment.

In the months that followed, Mia endured three blocks of very intensive chemotherapy. During this time, she became very unwell at different
stages from the side effects of all the drugs and the infections that attacked her immune system but she remained in remission and finished her treatment in April 2010.

Mia was now so close to her bone marrow transplant that was
vital for any chance of long term survival at Great Ormond Street Hospital and this was scheduled for May 2010. However just three weeks before Mia was due to go for her transplant, the doctors found that she had three infections and had also relapsed.

Mia then started a course of intensive relapse chemotherapy, and the weeks that followed were unbearable, as she battled to not only fight
the infections but also the disease. Mia became extremely unwell during this time but the worst was yet to come.

We were informed that the relapse chemotherapy failed to
work, and faced the realisation and devastation that Mia would be taken from us. She was not well enough to undergo the transplant. There was absolutely nothing more that we or the doctors could do. We had no option but to find the strength to get Mia through her final days, knowing we had little time left with her, and the day would come when we had to say goodbye.

In June 2010, Mia’s first birthday was coming up and she was beginning to deteriorate very fast. Mia got to celebrate her first and only birthday, and just days after Mia gave up her fight and slipped peacefully away.

Team Mia is dedicated to ensuring Mia’s legacy is kept alive
and is never forgotten. Please support us and help make this happen.

The Event

Team Mia is holding an Open Day at Royston Day Nursery in memory of our Angel daughter Mia Ella Samuels in order to raise money for Bloodwise.

The event will be taking place:

Saturday 17th September 2016
11am to 4pm
Royston Day Nursery
Lumen Road
Royston
Herts
SG8 7AG

About Bloodwise

Bloodwise are the leading UK charity dedicated to improving the
lives of patients with all types of blood cancer.

Around 450 children are diagnosed with Leukaemia in the UK every year. More than half of these children are under the age of five years old.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) is the most common type
of Leukaemia to affect children, accounting for more than 80% of all cases. Infants younger than 1 year with ALL have a particularly high risk of treatment failure.

Bloodwise are currently investing more than £17 million into research across the UK to beat childhood Leukaemia. This includes building on their understanding of why some children develop Leukaemia, finding new and less gruelling treatments and funding the latest clinical trial to treat all children in the UK diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic
Leukaemia (ALL).

How you can help

With your support you can help make a huge difference. All money raised from the Family Fun Day will enable Bloodwise to continue their vital research in finding a cure that saves lives.

PLEASE help us make that difference! We want to help reach a day when no other family has to go through the pain of having their child
diagnosed with Leukaemia or losing them to this devastating disease.

You'll see our team fundraising target at the top of the page. Team Mia would be extremely grateful for your support and any donations are welcome, no matter how big or small.

Thank you very much for your support in remembrance of our beautiful Angel daughter and towards such a worthy and critical cause.