My friend Alan Birikorang sadly lost his only child, his daughter Daisy, to a rare, aggressive soft tissue cancer. She was painfully young, only thirteen years old.

Daisy was diagnosed with High risk alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) on the 8th of August 2022, aged 12. She was treated across Great Ormond street Hospital (GOSH) and University College London Hospitals (UCLH) with frontline chemotherapy over 9 months plus an additional 29 daily radiotherapy sessions.

Daisy was due to start maintenance chemotherapy in March 2023, but two new lumps were found at a routine scan. As a result, she started relapse chemotherapy in May 2023, enduring an additional 8/12 treatments. By the end of September that year, the treatment had stopped working and Daisy decided to stop all further treatments. She was experiencing all of the side effects with none of the benefit. She made this decision with a maturity far beyond her years; an awakening to life that comes with experiencing deep suffering. In November 2023, Daisy tragically passed away.

All cancers are merciless and do not discriminate. They affect anyone and everyone, but it is particularly difficult when it affects children.

On 12th October 2025, we are running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in support of Daisy’s Arc, the charity set up in Daisy’s name (in partnership with Alice’s Arc), to raise vital funds for research into finding a cure for this devastating disease, so that no child is lost to this cruel disease again. To read more about Daisy’s Arc, please visit https://www.alicesarc.org/arc/daisy-birikorang/).

You can also follow this link to the article that Louise Parry wrote about Daisy’s journey for the BBC News website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c14kzy4pzk0o.

Every penny counts in the fight to find a cure, and whether your donation is big or small, it all contributes to bringing hope and change to families like Alan’s. Your support is crucial and can help pave the way to a brighter future for children and families affected by Rhabdomyosarcoma.

Thank you all for your generosity and support.