Family ‘bowled over’ as £30K raised in weekend for girl with rare cancer
THE parents of a four-year-old girl diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer have spoken of their amazement and gratitude at islanders’ generosity after a fundraising campaign launched on Friday raised more than £33,000 in less than 48 hours.
Romy McGahy is in the children’s cancer ward at Southampton General Hospital after doctors found an 18cm tumour in her abdomen.
With her are her parents, Tom and Helen, and little sister Zephyr.
‘The page was set up by friends to raise £1,000 as we said this would be more beneficial to us than gifts at this time,’ said Mrs McGahy. ‘People just want to help and we are bowled over at how much it has raised and the generosity of people, many of whom we don’t even know.’
After going live on GoFundMe at about 9pm on Friday donations flooded in. By yesterday afternoon it had reached more than £33,000.
Donations had come in from nearly 1,000 people and groups, some of whom had donated three-figure sums and one who had given £5,000.
‘Some of the anonymous donations have been large and I would like to personally thank everyone including those who remain anonymous and complete strangers,’ said Mrs McGahy. ‘It is amazing how people are helping and the generosity shown by the community.’
Romy had just started in Reception at La Mare De Carteret Primary School and was enjoying herself when she became very lethargic and lost her appetite.
Mrs McGahy said she was often too tired to do whole days at school so would go only in the mornings.
Her doctor thought a virus had caused swelling of the lymph nodes in her stomach and the problem would pass in its own time, but after four weeks of her barely eating she was waiting to go to a specialist to check whether her lymph nodes were actually swollen.
A visit to the Emergency Department due to her suffering neck pain led to her being given an ultrasound, which revealed the tumour.
‘Our worlds were turned upside down,’ said Mrs McGahy.
‘Romy never went home from that ultrasound appointment and I still have on me the shopping list she wrote of a few snacks she wanted to buy from the shop on the way home. 24 hours later we were on the children’s cancer ward in Southampton.’
Emergency chemotherapy was started immediately and following a biopsy Romy was diagnosed with a high-risk and aggressive neuroblastoma that had spread to other parts of her body.
She is now on an intensive and high-risk chemotherapy regime and Mrs McGahy said this will last for 70 days, after which her treatment is set to include stem cell harvesting, stronger chemotherapy, surgery if and when it is possible, radiotherapy and immunotherapy.
Romy will have to stay in Southampton between treatments and is expected to be there for a year, although treatments might be delayed depending on how she responds and unexpected events.
‘Once we had confirmation the ward in Southampton had a bed for Romy we had two hours to pack and thankfully the amazing Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation provided their flat near the hospital for our use,’ said Mrs McGahy. ‘This has been an absolute godsend for us.’
She also paid tribute to the staff of Frossard Ward where Romy stayed for 24 hours, who she said ‘bent over backwards to get us to Southampton as quickly as possible’.
Romy’s medical care costs are supported by the States, but Mrs McGahy said that as a stay-at-home mum the family was living on one wage.
‘The road ahead is going to be long and the money raised will help us to be with her and try to make life as normal as possible for her and her baby sister,’ she said.
‘We had been worried about how we were going to financially manage, so this has lifted one burden.’
Once the ‘awful journey’ ends, she said any money that the family does not need for living expenses will be donated to charities that are already close to their hearts, including the Priaulx Premature Baby Foundation.
. Romy’s GoFundMe page is at bit.ly/3CALo0j
What is neuroblastoma?
It is a rare cancer almost always found in children under the age of five.
Romy McGahy’s neuroblastoma has been characterised as high-risk as it has spread to other areas of her body.
Around 50% of children with high-risk category neuroblastoma will be cured of their disease.
About 95 children up to the age of 14 are diagnosed with neuroblastoma each year in the UK.
Very rarely it can develop in older children, teenagers and adults.
