To see the most up-to-date fundraising total for Anya's Journey, please click on Anya's team half way down the page - thank you!
Updated: 3 September 2013
Anya is just 2 years old and has stage 4 neuroblastoma – an aggressive childhood cancer that kills more under fives than any other cancer type. Together with Anya’s parents, Graeme and Naomi, the NCCA UK (now Solving Kids' Cancer) has been fundraising to help Anya access pioneering immunotherapy treatment in the US. But now brave Anya who has already undergone painful, protracted treatment has been given a rare opportunity to join a Europe-wide immunotherapy treatment trial – with the bonus that she can receive treatment at her local hospital, Alder Hey. This means she will not now need to travel to the US as planned and could start treatment as early as November 2013.
“This is bittersweet for us”, say her parents Naomi and Graeme, “it’s good that Anya can be treated in the UK in a hospital she knows but it is sad that she’s only qualified because the disease is proving so hard to shift.”
Because four out of five children relapse after treatment, Anya’s appeal will remain open both to build funds should she need urgent lifesaving treatment, but also to raise awareness for neuroblastoma. Funds raised so far will be held within Solving Kids' Cancer for five years to contribute to treatment if needed. If after five years the funds are not needed, they will be used to help another family or, at Naomi and Graeme’s discretion, go towards neuroblastoma research.
Anya's story:
In March 2011, Naomi and Graeme were thrilled with the safe arrival of their first child - a beautiful baby girl. But Anya was slow to walk, and a pronounced limp quickly progressed to the point where Anya couldn’t bear to stand on her left leg. The local hospital tried anti-inflammatory drugs, and then an emergency operation but Anya’s pain and fever spiralled out of control. She was referred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for a second operation and further tests before the doctors told her distraught parents the devastating news - Anya had cancer.
Unconscious and on morphine, Anya appeared to be losing her fight for life. Fearing the worst, the doctors started chemotherapy a week early and Anya began to stabilise. She’s still having chemotherapy today, and although it’s keeping the disease in check, Anya’s parents know that neuroblastoma is prone to relapse, attacking new parts of the body persistently and at random. The only real hope of Anya growing up cancer free lies in pioneering immunotherapy trials.
To read more about Anya visit our website: http://www.SolvingKidsCancer.org.uk/journey/anyas-journey/
To follow her story, visit her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AnyaBenthamAppeal
Sign up to the Anya Bentham Appeal e-newsletter!
To make a donation text ANYA99 £1-£10 to 70070. Every donation, no matter how small, will make a difference.
Journey Terms and Conditions
All donations are paid into Solving Kids' Cancer's general funds to further its general charitable purposes. The funds raised by this Journey are not restricted for the child's use. However, the trustees of Solving Kids' Cancer have agreed to designate funds raised by this Journey to help the child and their family pay for potential future treatment costs and all other associated costs including travel and accommodation. If the child no longer needs the funds, or if the trustees decide, at their absolute discretion, that the funds should be used for a different purpose, they may redesignate all or part of the funds for Solving Kids' Cancer's general charitable purposes. We are very grateful for your charitable donation.
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