Case studies

A family in County Durham had their lives thrown into turmoil when their four year old daughter, Lillie, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Lillie has a twin sister, Poppy, and her mum, Shirley, was about to give birth to their third child.

Rainbow Trust Family Support Worker, Ben, was introduced to the Welch family in 2004. The oldest daughter in the family, Charlie, was ill having been diagnosed with a degenerative condition that affects all aspects of her life.

Jo Whitehead first heard about Rainbow Trust as she sat beside her baby son Connor in the intensive care unit of her local hospital. Connor, who has Down’s Syndrome, was born with heart problems and needed his first operation at just four months old. Two more operations followed, and several months in hospital. Read more about how Rainbow Trust supports Connor and his family.

Kelly Hubbard and Tamba Jefang had two young children and were expecting their third child when a scan in the 36th week of pregnancy showed that there was a problem with the new baby. More tests after Ayisha was born confirmed that she had a tumour on her bowel. Read how Rainbow Trust supports Ayisha and her family.

Little Malachi Tyler was diagnosed at birth with Neurofibromatosis, a genetic condition which varies from one person to another even in the same family. Read how Rainbow Trust Children's Charity have been supporting Malachi and his family.

David was referred to Rainbow Trust after being diagnosed with a rare blood disorder. It took a long time to make the diagnosis whilst his family were struggling to cope with repeated hospital visits and uncertainty.