In May I'll be joining Emmy's Warriors to take on my biggest running challenge yet - the Edinburgh Marathon.

This is totally inspired by my friend Faith's gorgeous niece Emmy, and the opportunity to raise money for Young Lives Vs Cancer who have supported Emmy and her family.

Below is a little about their journey so far. Please donate what you can to help support this amazing charity.

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This is a little snippet into the story of the little girl who has inspired all of us to push ourselves beyond our limits to raise money for Young Lives Vs Cancer.

Emmy is a 5 year old girl originally from Northern Ireland. She was diagnosed will ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia) at the age of 3. This diagnosis came as a massive shock to her parents and younger sister, Thea (who was just 3 months old when they received Emmy’s diagnosis). B-ALL is a type of Leukaemia that can be cured, usually with intense chemotherapy and around 95% of people diagnosed achieve this wonderful feat!

Thanks to the amazing team in the Royal Infirmary in Belfast, Emmy was in remission after just 4 weeks of initial chemotherapy treatment, however there was a long road ahead and another 2 years of daily chemo and 5 more years of check ups before they would eventually be able to breathe and say she was cured! With the strongest phases of her treatment over, the family decided it was the right time to move back to Scotland to be closer to the support network of family and friends in Dundee.

Emmy continued her treatment for another 7 months without any hiccups, but unfortunately in May 2024 they received the devastating news that even though Emmy was still receiving daily chemotherapy her cancer was back and more aggressive than ever. She was then plunged back into a month of strong chemotherapy and steroid treatment in order to try and get her disease under control and low enough that she could have a bone marrow transplant. To the families dismay, this treatment was to no avail and her cancer was still considered very much out of control.

Thankfully she was then offered the chance to try a new and very special treatment called CAR-T Therapy, however this meant she and her family would have to go to Newcastle Royal Infirmary for 5 weeks in order to receive it. The caveat to this treatment is that it takes 4 weeks to develop (her own immune cells are collected and modified in order to be able to fight the Leukaemia cells). Sadly in this 4 week interval the team in Edinburgh were unable to get her disease levels down, meaning she was very high risk going into her treatment. Luckily the team in Newcastle were second to none and even with some major bumps in the road including some harrowing days in ICU, she was finally declared to be back in remission at the end of her time in Newcastle.

This is an unbelievable achievement and Emmy has taken every step of this journey in her stride and has faced each hurdle with grace, laughter, and above all, the most amazing determination to get well.

Emmy's remission would not be possible without the help and hard work of so so many people, doctors, nurses, play specialists and more and it would definitely not have been anywhere near as easy for her or her family without the help of charities along the way. This is why the family want to do as much as they can to give back and the natural choice for this is to support Young Lives Vs Cancer. They are a wonderful charity who span across all areas of the UK and have supported Emmy in all 4 Hospitals in which she has been treated. With ward sponsorships, grants, and even access to the most amazing accommodation in Edinburgh which all families facing cancer can use whilst their child is receiving treatment. They also give every family who’s child is diagnosed with cancer a specialist social worker who can help them navigate all the financial worries and stresses that come with this horrible disease.

Emmy's dad, Sam, and other family and friends will be participating in marathons throughout 2025 in all the cities she has been treated. Our aim is for this fundraising journey is to help ensure that Young Lives Vs Cancer can continue their incredible work and that every family is given the same help that she has received.

To find out more visit www.younglivesvscancer.org.uk