This is my Daughters story, but i want to raise awareness as well on how Ronald Macdonald  House in Manchester helped our family out when we needed it the most.  We were able to be together all the time especially Our Karen and Phil with baby Lily as a family unit with Nan and Gran very close at hand.   We all thank you from the bottom of our hearts xx                                                                                    

Please every penny counts and thank you in advance for anything you can spare,  this page is being put together with my paper sponsor form but for those who i cannot collect in person hope this is easier for you,  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On New Year’s Eve 2013, our world was turned upside down when my 5 year old Godson, Ethan was diagnosed with medulloblastoma. Medulloblastoma is a brain tumour, statistics show 2 in 1 Million people are diagnosed with it. Ethan had been poorly throughout the Christmas period however doctors sent him home with orders to rest as they thought his illness was a viral infection. In this time his 4 week old sister Lily was admitted to Wigan's Rainbow Ward's High dependency unit with problems with breathing and bronchiolitis. When Ethan was taken to hospital on New Year’s Eve by his Dad, his Mum was in hospital staying with Lily. He was checked over and the doctors said it was a bad viral infection, after a couple of hours being on Rainbow Ward it came to a doctors attention that Ethan should be sent for an MRI Scan. This was when they found Ethan had a brain tumour therefore the illness he encountered that morning was a seizure, he was rushed immediately to Manchester Children’s Hospital to have the fluid surrounding his brain drained off. The next day he had an operation to remove the tumour. After the huge operation, Ethan was placed on Intensive Care whilst his parents where accommodated in the Ronald McDonald House across the road from the hospital. By this time, Lily was being looked after at Wigan Hospital by the family. Lily was brought home on the 2nd January healthy and well. After a few days of being looked after by family, Her parents came for her so she could be with them at the hospital. Every day the family - mainly the grandparents travelled to Manchester to look after Lily whilst her parents could spend time with Ethan. From intensive care Ethan had then another scan to see how well the operation had gone. The scan showed more bad news - the cancerous tumour had spread to a part of his spine and there was still 1cm left on his brain. The problem with his fluid was continuing, he now has 3 scars on his head. He has a permanent shunt in his head to help him drain the brain fluid. 6 operations and at least 10 scans later.. Ethan is now on High Decency Unit and has now started his chemotherapy, he is having it 24/7 for 4 day periods. 

These few month has been the toughest yet for all us, wondering why these things happen but how close and lucky we have been, as the doctors said if Ethan hadn’t have been brought to hospital at the time he had, he wouldn’t have been here today. Without the Ronald McDonald house, i dread to think how worse this nightmare could have been. Ethan has been in RMCH since 31st of December 2013 and he still has a long way to go.

I am now doing the update I never thought I’d have too..

In total as explained above Ethan spent a total of 9 week in hospital before he came home and spent priceless, precious time alone with his family. But the hospital visits were still very often; his parents transported him to and from the hospital for numerous appointments for chemotherapy and MRI Scans. The Christie was also often visited where Ethan began to make his mask for when he under-went radiotherapy – he designed the mask to look like Spiderman (After all Ethan was a super hero too).

After 5 amazing week spent with his Mum, Dad and baby sister Lily, Ethan got poorly again and he was taken back to Manchester Childrens Hospital. That day, we was told Ethan’s shunt that had been previously fitted, had failed – Ethan had an emergency operation in the early hours of 2 April. So again our brave little man had to under go yet another operation to have a new shunt fitted. A couple of days past whilst Ethan was recovering, then out of the blue he suffered a number of seizures which lead to Ethan having more MRI scans – little did we know the worst news was yet to come.. The tumor was still there, only this time the growth was more aggressive and there was nothing anyone could do. The doctors said Ethan had hours left, he was on HDU at the time, his parents were talking to his consultant which resulted in the decision to give Ethan a course of steroids as a last resort, to try and get him fit enough to attend Christies to start his Radiotherapy treatment. Ethan seemed to respond well to the steroids and five days later the NWTS team transferred Ethan to Christies, for 1 session of his Radiotherapy – which was a success and gave us all hope.

The day after we hoped Ethan would again attend another session of Radiotherapy, but as the NWTS team arrived at the hospital Ethan’s breathing deteriorated. After having an X-Ray and an examination Ethan’s consultant confirmed the tumour had progressed more.

Ethan’s funeral was yesterday (29/04/2014), everyone who attended wore something Green in honour of Ethan as it was his favourite colour. His friends, teachers and the rest of the children at his school - Worsley Mesnes primary – also wore Green – The school community touched my heart the morning of Ethan’s funeral as I saw many children walking to school embracing Ethan’s favourite colour.

The doctors and nurses are so supportive towards the parents and family of Ethan and raising money for this charity in order to fund teachers, play areas and family rooms for those children who are sick is just a little thank you and an opportunity to give something back.

I would hugely appreciate any donation no matter how small or big, this hospital and its importance is hard to put into words. It’s so very close to my heart and in completing this run i want to raise awareness for children with brain tumours and hopefully, one day, find a cure - so that innocent, amazing children like my Godson Ethan no longer have to suffer with this horrible disease.

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