Below is Anya's story, this says more about why I want to do this challenge that anything that I could say myself.

 

On Saturday 29th September 2013 I will be diving with sharks (including 10ft sand tiger sharks) at Blue Planet aquarium in Ellesmere port. I have committed to raising a minimum donation but I'd like to raise as much as possible to help Anya, please dig deep and donate to support me and more importantly Anya. 

 

“Hello everyone, my name is Anya!  I am 2 years old. I love my dolly and Beauty and the Beast is my favourite!” 

 

Anya has neuroblastoma, a frighteningly aggressive childhood cancer. She has already had lots of cancer treatments in the UK and has done really well so far. Now Anya’s best chance of beating the disease lie in America. The treatment Anya will receive in the United States is not available in the same format in the UK, where anti-GD2 and IL2, or just anti-GD2 alone, are given as part of a randomised trial. The proposed treatment and associated costs of £250,000 will not be funded by the NHS which is why Anya needs your help. Every donation for Anya, no matter how small, will make a difference.

 

In March 2011, Naomi and Graeme were blessed with their first child, a beautiful baby girl they christened Anya. At 16 months old, Anya was a late walker. When she started to limp and then couldn’t bear weight on her left leg just 3 days later, parents Naomi and Graeme took her straight to their local Accident and Emergency. Anya was diagnosed as having an ‘Irritable Hip’ and sent home with anti-inflammatory drugs. Within 4 days Anya was back brushing up on her new walking skills. 

 

But almost a month later, the same symptoms came back, so the family went back to A&E. By midnight that night Anya was undergoing an emergency operation for suspected Septic Arthritis (fluid on the hip). 

 

Eight days later Anya’s temperature kept spiking, and despite being on antibiotics and painkillers, she was referred to Alder Hey Hospital with a suspected bone infection. After another battery of tests Anya underwent a second operation on her pelvis. Ten days later, her temperature had settled, she was walking again and seemed happy and settled. 

Anya had only been home for a week when she started showing signs of having pain in her hip. The next morning she was readmitted to Alder Hey Hospital. The pain steadily increased until poor Anya was in agony. Several days later, following many tests, Anya’s parents were given the crushing news: their precious baby girl had stage 4 neuroblastoma. 

 

Over the course of a week Anya received large doses of morphine and was hooked up to a pain pump. The painkillers didn’t control the pain well and made Anya increasingly lose consciousness. Her devastated parents thought they were watching their daughter slip away from them. The doctors feared that her condition was critical, so they started chemotherapy a week earlier than scheduled. 

 

Anya is receiving frontline chemotherapy at Alder Hey Hospital now and is doing well, but Naomi and Graeme are conscious that she has a long way to go in her battle against this cruel disease. 

 

Anya’s parents want their daughter to receive the proven Children’s Oncology Group neuroblastoma treatment, which uses the antibody ch14-18, and cytokines IL-2 and GM-CSF. This treatment will help stimulate Anya’s immune system so that her own body should be able to recognise and attack the neuroblastoma if it was to return. This is always a worry with this deadly disease, where the relapse rates are high. 

 

The treatment Anya will receive in the United States is not available in the same format in the UK, where anti-GD2 and IL2, or just anti-GD2 alone, are given as part of a randomised trial. The proposed treatment and associated costs of £250,000 will not be funded by the NHS which is why Anya needs your help. 

 

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.

 

So please dig deep and donate now.