Sponsor a Family Support Worker for Sick Children

I thought I was going to die; Rainbow Trust gave me the fighting spirit to recover.

To be told you have a tumour that may kill you is hard. That is what happened to me just before my fifteenth birthday. I had a tumour the size of a rugby ball growing in my liver.

I was okay with the news at first. I wasn’t scared but seeing my mum, who is normally so strong, break down and cry was really tough. It only sank in the day I walked onto the oncology ward and saw the other sick children. 

It was a huge shock starting chemotherapy. The treatments were exhausting. I was so weak, I couldn’t walk. I was stuck in hospital for six months. My friends from school visited lots. I remember the first time they saw me. I was bald and I had a tube in my nose. They all stood in the doorway and didn't want to come in. They couldn't look me in the eye and stared at the walls, the floor, anywhere but at me. I was so frustrated that they couldn't see that I was the same person as before I became ill.

I first met Rainbow Trust after the operation to remove the tumour. My Family Support Workers, Monica and Vicky, were amazing. We never talked about the fact that I may die, they just made me laugh and gave me my independence back. Having someone to look after me also meant mum could return to work.

I owe my GCSEs to them. I don't think I would have been able to go back to school without their support. I remember getting dressed in my uniform one day and feeling positive about seeing my friends but when I came downstairs I couldn't do it. I burst into tears. Monica and Vicky arranged for me to go in for a few hours at a time so that I could get used to things again and even came to lessons with me. That made all the difference.

I’ve overcome a lot in my life, but I couldn’t have done it without the support of Rainbow Trust.

Rainbow Trust doesn’t promise to provide answers or cures, just the silent support that many of us take for granted. I know I did before I got sick. Most organisations came to us with a list of things they can help with but Rainbow was different. They asked what help we needed and they provided it. This makes them unique.

I’m 21 now. I am fit and healthy and even ran my first Great North Run this year. With the help of Rainbow Trust, I am now studying to be a children’s nurse, because I saw what all those nurses and health professionals did for me as a teenager. I have been working with children throughout my training and when I’ve had a teenager or parents who are challenging, I can understand why they are being and feeling that way. I can put myself in their shoes because I know I felt like they did.

When I qualify I will be based at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, the hospital in which I spent most of the year I had cancer.