oldtrout13
oldtrout13
| Forum role | Member since | Last activity | Topics created | Replies created |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Nov 7, 2018 (7 years) |
- | 1 | 0 |
- Forum role
- Member
- Member since
Nov 7, 2018 (7 years)
- Last activity
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Bio
I am a retired headteacher and live in Worcestershire, UK. I have a large garden which produces almost everything we eat and I am slowly enhancing the area with flower borders.
I lost my beautiful granddaughter, Grace Kelly, to a particular aggressive solid rhabdoid cancer tumour in 2014. From a happy 4 year old in school for the first time, to dead and buried, in under 3 weeks!! As you can well imagine this was and remains a devastating event for all the family and particularly so for Grace's parents who are both doctors.
Grace's mother has decided to dedicate the rest of her working life to fighting rare childhood cancers in Grace's name.
We are shocked by the lack of awareness about childhood cancers which kill more children every year than any other illness. Only accidents kill more children. We are concerned that little is known or researched as far as many childhood cancers are concerned. Less than 2 pence in every pound raised for cancer charities is spent on childhood cancer research and UK doctors spend little if any time being trained to recognise the symptoms of childhood cancers. Early awareness is critical in terms of survival in most cases of childhood cancer.
Grace's mother has set up a childhood cancer charity in her daughter's name. www.gracekellyladybird.co.uk This is her way of coping with the loss of Grace and it is helping to keep her memory alive. Grace was a sweet little girl who always put others before herself. So, in her name, we are raising awareness to save lives, to improve clinical knowledge and practice and to raise much needed funding for specific childhood cancer research. In addition we are writing and publishing much needed information for parents and hospitals. We also actively support families who have recently received life threatening cancer diagnoses, or bereavements, In some cases we are able provide financial support when it is most needed.
To date we have released £160,000 for specific research into solid rhabdoid tumours which have not been-researched and are also of the kind that killed Grace.
The charity will always benefit from additional funding, but at the moment we specifically need to move our charity in to more professional surroundings where volunteers and staff can work and store charity materials. Since we pride ourselves in making available all our charitable funding for good works, it is my hope that I can learn enough online to provide ongoing capital income to provide this for the charity.
The Grace Kelly Ladybird Trust is only 4 years old, but it is already making a big difference.
"Every child deserves a tomorrow."
Grace's Granddad Chris Britt-Compton
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