Family stories

Three year old Iris Connolly was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 2010 while on holiday with her family in Malaysia. After two long operations to remove the tumour, doctors told her parents that Iris has a 70-80 per cent survival rate but still needed to have a years worth of treatment to completely get rid of the cancer.

Nikolai Gibbins was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Rainbow Trust Family Supporter Worker, Dawn is helping Nikolai and his family through this difficult time.

Harriet Kelly was just two when she was diagnosed with neuroblastoma stage four; a rare and aggressive childhood cancer of the nerve cells. Following successful treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, Harriet went into remission for two years. The tumours returned and this time doctors could do very little for her. Harriet died on 9 February 2007, aged just six.

Olivia and Isabella Murphy are identical twins and they were just two and a half when Olivia was diagnosed with leukaemia. The news shattered the whole family. Their mum Sarah tells their family story and how Rainbow Trust has helped and supported them through some very difficult and painful times.

Nick & Maria Goldby and their son Alex from Surrey remember their daughter and sister Elise, who died on September 5, 2005 aged just 12. Here Maria describes Elise’s courageous battles against cancer and enduring love for the board game, Monopoly.

Alison & Richard Sewell from County Durham were told by doctors that one of their sons, Daniel, aged just 13 months had a very rare form of mouth cancer, only previously seen in adults. Daniel was the first child in the world to undergo a pioneering operation to remove the tumour. Here, mum Alison tells the family’s story and how Rainbow Trust made all the difference during this very difficult time.

Michael Cookson was 16 when he was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma, a cancer of the bone, which caused him to have a below the knee amputation. However it hasn’t stopped him doing a sky dive for Rainbow and raising nearly £500

Nevaeh Green and her family started 2010 with the dreadful diagnosis that Nevaeh has Leukaemia. A year on, Nevaeh and her family have been supported by Family Support Worker Lyn from the Surrey Care Team for 11 months and they are looking forward to a year of ‘kicking butt’!

Lolly Heal was two when she was diagnosed with a heart condition and suffered a brain injury when her heart stopped during an operation. Lolly and her family receive support from Rainbow Trust's Swindon team and she has been able to go horse riding after Rainbow received vouchers for lessons from a local horse riding centre.