Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Having not exercised for years, in a moment of madness, I decided that I would get up and run a half-marathon in March - all to raise money for my friend's daughters cancer treatment.

I have known my friend Tania for over ten years. She and her husband, Ioannis, have two lovely children. Their youngest, Jasmine now aged 4y5m, has been battling an aggressive form of cancer for nearly a year. The chance of Jasmine surviving to five years old are terrifying – as she can’t have the last stage of her immuno-therapy due to serious medical complications during chemo, she has a very high chance of the cancer recurring and if it does, her chance of surviving drops to below 10%. It’s heart-breaking.

Jasmine’s best chance of survival is to have a treatment that unfortunately costs a huge £236,000. Tania and Ioannis have set up a Just Giving page as they desperately need help to raise the money by April 2019.

If you can help by sponsoring me for running the half-marathon please do. If you can share Jasmine’s story to spread the word that would help too.

Thank you so much for reading.

Meera



Jasmine's Full Story

Cheeky and loving four-year-old Jasmine is a Princess to her parents and older brother, who she absolutely adores. She loves dancing, music and everything to do with the movie Frozen! Everyone that meets her falls in love. In January 2018, Jasmine was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, an extremely aggressive childhood cancer that affects around 100 children in the UK each year. Despite lengthy frontline treatment, we know that the cancer returns in almost 50% of children and once that happens less than 1 in 10 children will survive. Her family are desperate to do all they can to give Jasmine the best chance of beating this awful disease and want her to access a treatment option which is showing promising results in reducing the likelihood of relapse. They are launching an appeal to raise £236,000 by April 2019 so Jasmine can access the treatment in New York. "Our world and everything we took for granted disappeared in a second", says Tania and Ioannis, Jasmines mum and dad. The fear of losing our daughter and not being able to protect her is the worst feeling in the world.

Jasmine's treatment: Since she was diagnosed Jasmine has undergone extensive chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, major surgery, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. Over the last year, she has been in hospital for more than six months, often not allowed to even leave her room or even see her brother. "She has been nothing short of amazing. She smiles whenever she can and continues to make all the doctors and nurses fall in love with her. When I ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she is very clear that she wants to be a doctor, or on some days a nurse because they are the ones that get to give out stickers!" says Ioannis. Throughout this journey, Jasmine developed several life-threatening side-effects including internal bleeding, Venous Occlusive Disease (VOD) and severe neurological reactions. Due to these severe neurological reactions, Jasmine will not be able to complete the immunotherapy part of her treatment. Jasmine's family are desperate to do all they can to give her the best chance of beating this disease. Together, with doctors, they have identified the Bivalent Vaccine in New York, which has shown promising early results in reducing the likelihood of relapse in children who are at a very high risk of relapsing again.

Jasmine's fundraising campaign: The family is launching an appeal to raise £236,000 by April 2019, so Jasmine can access the Bivalent Vaccine as soon as she finishes frontline treatment. It is her best chance at remaining cancer-free. Ioannis and Tania say: "If you feel you are able to contribute in any way we would very much appreciate your help and be eternally grateful. We just want to be able to get our daughter through this so that she can live her life and one day be able to fulfil her dream of becoming a doctor, helping other people in need."

How you can help: There are many ways you can help Jasmine: by making a personal donation, holding a fundraising event, getting sponsored to take on a challenge, or simply by sharing her story.

You can make a donation via this page, or if you'd prefer to text donate, text JATO99 and your amount £1-£10 to 70070. If you'd like help support Jasmine's campaign, please contact our fundraising team on 0207 284 0800 or fundraising@solvingkidscancer.org.uk.