An inspiring mother of five, Hayley, has shared her family's story to raise awareness for Redkite's 2011 Chairman's Appeal. Hayley has shared how her family is managing through her baby girl’s cancer. Her courage as a parent of little Sinead is truly incredible.
Please donate today and share Hayley’s important story.
In the next 12 weeks more than 430 children, teenagers and young people will be diagnosed with cancer. To ensure Redkite can be there for them to the end of this year alone, Redkite needs to raise $336,000.
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Hayley's story
When my daughter Sinead was born in August 2009, she seemed perfect, we were delighted. But then our lives changed…
At about 11 weeks, I thought Sinead’s forehead looked a bit blue. I asked a specialist about Sinead who said it felt like a build-up of pressure. An ultrasound was organised immediately.
The result totally changed my life: there was a tumour in Sinead’s head. She needed surgery without delay. She was only 12 weeks old.
We were told we would lose her
We were told that the tumour was growing so fast that if they did not operate she would not last more than a couple of days. It was an extremely rare brain tumour, with very low survival rates.
A second round of surgery was required. As we sat at the bed, beside our sleeping daughter, one of the nurses told us that we should get ready to lose our baby. ‘It’s just a question of time,’ she said.
Redkite was there, right from the start
I’ll never forget the day Redkite’s Red Bag was delivered, full of items that were just so useful in hospital. Even a notebook. I filled every page of that notebook with details of Sinead’s treatment, the medication she was on and the steps we were going through, because you can’t remember everything.
As the expenses mounted up, the generous people who support Redkite made everyday things possible. Redkite’s financial assistance allowed us to fill the car with petrol so David could visit in hospital, get the food on the table for the four boys at home and pay the bills.
The pain in our baby’s head... she just cried and cried
Our baby spent so much time in my arms because every time we put her down she cried uncontrollably – the pain in her head and the pressure of the tumour against the brain was just too much to bear.
 After the surgery, there was chemotherapy, twelve months of it. During 2010, I spent almost my whole life in the hospital. Life outside was just a blur.
Redkite was there for us when we were at our lowest
One of the best supports for me was my social worker. As a trained professional, she understood the support needed and how hard it is when you think your baby is dying. I think it is great that Redkite funds social workers to support other families going through what we have.
The Redkite Music Therapist often helped distract my youngest boy Rowan with music when his baby sister was having her traumatic dressing changes or procedures, this was such a big help for me. And as for the Redkite Christmas hampers, they were just wonderful.
We always had hope
We always had hope. We prayed constantly. And if you were able to see our bubbling 20 month old little girl now, you’d see that our prayers were  answered.
The journey that we had to take as a family was a journey no one should have to go through but Redkite made it much more bearable. David and I feel so sorry for the families Redkite cannot support due to funding constraints. We just hope that you can dig deep and donate to the 2011 Chairman’s Appeal, so more families facing cancer can be helped by Redkite.
Thank you for caring,
Hayley.
Donate to the Redkite Chairman's Appeal here. |
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