THE mum of a little girl who started her third round of chemotherapy this week in her fight against a rare form of leukaemia is hoping she will be well enough to attend a fund-raising event in her honour tomorrow.
Eleven-year-old Amy Watson has spent much of the last three months in hospital but has been able to return to her home in Lundwood for weekends and short stays - including for her birthday.
But she returned to Sheffield Children’s Hospital this week to undergo a more powerful chemotherapy which mum Ciara Maguire was worried could make her quite poorly.
“This is her third course of chemotherapy,” said Ciara, 32, of Foxen Croft, Lundwood.
“She was really poorly with the first one, she was in for six weeks. She did really well with the second one.
“But this is a lot stronger. It can cause other problems with infections, because it can lower her immune system.
“She is being really brave.
“It’s a five-day course. She’s coming out on Saturday, so we’re really hoping she’s well enough to come to the event.”
Tomorrow The Old Bridge Inn at Monk Bretton is hosting a day of fun and activities in Amy’s honour.
It will feature a bouncy castle, hook a duck, food truck, stalls DJ, live music and performances from majorettes and fire dancers.
“The community spirit has just been amazing,” she said.
“As long as she’s well enough she’ll be going straight from hospital to the event. She’s really excited.”
Ciara had to give up work as an auxiliary nurse after Amy’s diagnosis to focus on helping Amy and spend time with her, as well as her other two children Ellie, nine, and Max, two.
Well-wishers set up a fund-raising campaign and organised events to help the family with things like the cost of travel to and from hospital. Just short of £5,000 has been raised in all.
This has enabled the creation of a new bedroom for Amy, who is currently using a wheelchair after being left weak by her treatment, in the former garage of the family home.
Ciara is now in the process of registering the appeal as a charity, and now the bedroom work is almost complete, efforts are instead turning to helping make life easier for other families who find themselves at Sheffield Children’s Hospital including ‘survival packs’ with basic supplies they will need like toothbrushes and other toiletries.
“We’re so grateful, it’s all been such a big help to us. We want to carry on raising money to give something back to other families.”
Ciara said she had felt like her whole world had come crashing down around her when doctors gave her Amy’s diagnosis.
She had initially believed her daughter had tonsillitis, but after tests it was revealed she has a rare form of leukaemia called AML which usually affects adults in later life.
Tomorrow’s event at the Old Bridge Inn starts at noon and runs all afternoon. See the ‘Amy’s AML Journey’ page on Facebook for more information.
