On Sunday 4th July it was time for a Walk in the Park to raise much needed funds for the Neuroblastoma Society.
Organised by Laura Hodge, the day was a great success, especially as it was the first of it’s kind here in Crawley.
Organiser Laura Hodge makes sure everyone is ready
We spoke to Laura about her chosen charity and Laura told us “as a parent myself, I feel the following three points set Neuroblastoma apart more than any other cancer:
1: Neuroblastoma affects young children and spreads extremely fast.
The average age of diagnosis is two years old meaning that, unlike adults, children do not realise they are ill and many cannot communicate it. I have read of many individual cases and there are two that I always remember: one pregnant mother was told before her child was even born that he had advanced stages of Neuroblastoma. He died at three months old. A seemingly healthy three year old girl was diagnosed, underwent many operations and tests but sadly died three weeks later.
2: Too many common symptoms are easily missed by parents.
The symptoms for the disease are varied and vague, so unless a lump is found on your child, they could have an unsteady walk, a cough or simply a loss of appetite. Hence why Neuroblastoma spreads to other areas of the body before a diagnosis is made. In fact, a staggering 70 per cent of children with Neuroblastoma are at Stage 4 when the disease is diagnosed. [Stage 4 means the cancer has spread from where it started to another body organ. There are typically only 4 stages]. Due to the vulnerability of the child’s immune system during treatments of high doses of chemotherapy the child often has to be placed in isolation for up to six weeks.
3. Many children relapse and the new tumours do not respond to treatment.
Those diagnosed at Stage 4 only have a two year survival rate. So although children finish their treatments with scans showing “no disease detectable” in many cases there are microscopic cancer cells still present. When the tumors begin to grow again, they are resistant to traditional chemo.
With everyones help the Neuroblastoma Society can fund new research and clinical trials to help find a cure. There is currently no government funding for Neuroblastoma so every penny raised really does count.”
As for the day, Laura told us “We got off to a bit of a slow start but it all worked out in the end and we made approximately £1300 for the Neuroblastoma Society. Toby Anstis, Heart Radio DJ, had kindly organised a tour of the Heart Radio Studios in Leicester Square, London. This was a great boost to the funds raised. We just need to get all the sponsor money in now!”
We would like to congratulate Laura on such a great effort and we look forward to covering it again next year.
Would you like to get involved? Please contact us via email editor@crawleyhappytimes.co.uk and we will be more than happy to send your details to Laura.
Crawley Happy Times would like to thank Sunay Kurtulus for attending and taking pictures on our behalf 
