As a lot of you know our family’s world was rocked on Sat 6th July. What started with an A&E trip with head and neck pain ended the day with the most unbelievable news. Our bright, fun loving, gorgeous sister Clara was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The next seven days passed in a blur and then having been told to fear the worst she underwent a 14 hour operation to remove the tumour. Just over 12 hours after coming out of surgery against all odds Clara was woken and within an hour she was writing messages to mum and dad. Seven days later when her tracheostomy came out again we were told to fear the worst, as we were unsure whether Clara would be able to swallow or speak. Again our strong sister amazed the medical staff and just 10 days after surgery she came home, with the medics saying they had never known anyone recover so quickly. Once the physical wounds healed sufficiently Clara then began a gruelling 9 1/2 week radiotherapy programme. Mon to Fri every week with lots of horrid side effects but you would never know by talking to Clara as she continued to smile throughout. The radiotherapy finished in December and we have no idea what the future will bring but what we do have now is hope. The NHS have been absolutely unbelievable throughout from the A&E doctor who went with her gut feeling and ordered a scan, which undoubtedly saved Clara’s life as the huge tumour was taking over, the most incredible surgeon and his team who operated for 14 hours until 2am in the morning yet still took the time to call my mum and dad at this time to talk them through the surgery, the most incredible ward staff on ICU, critical care and the day wards at Salford Royal and the consultant, radiologists and radiographers at The Christie. We can never thank them all enough but we do want to try and give a little something back. Clara and I are hoping to run the Great North Run later in 2020 so watch this space but in the meantime Clara’s niece and nephews wanted to do something too. So in May they are setting themselves a mini triathlon challenge that we are calling ‘Swim, Bike, Run for Aunty Clara’. Daniel and Thomas, at the ages of only 12 and 10, will be swimming 1/2km (20 lengths), biking 10km and running 3km and Olivia and Harry, at only 6 and 4 years old, will be joining in the last part of every leg. If you can please help them to raise money for the Skull Based Foundation whose surgeon gave us the opportunity to have hope and for Christie’s that have given us the best chance of that hope coming true. Aunty Clara we love you. From Daniel, Thomas, Olivia and Harry xx

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.