This lovely girl is a sister to one of my son’s school friends. As a Mum to two little children I can’t possibly imagine how devastating it is to hear that your baby is suffering with such horrible disease as Neuroblastoma! I could only pray and hope that together as a community we can come together and get Siobhan the help that she needs and honestly and truly deserves!!

This is Siobhan’s Story: 

On 1st May 2015 a beautiful angel was born, Siobhan Margaret Mather. She bought fun and feistiness with her independent character to everyone around her. On 1st July 2017, aged just 2, Siobhan became lethargic and was taken to her GP. After being referred to Barnet General Hospital, it was discovered she had a tumour. She was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) where she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma, a rare child cancer. Neuroblastoma is a very rare cancer and only 100 children per year are diagnosed in the U.K. 

High-risk neuroblastoma has a high chance of relapse; and relapsed Neuroblastoma has low survival rates. Relapsed Neuroblastoma is the most dangerous form of the disease. There is no standard relapse protocol for relapsed Neuroblastoma, which means clinical trials are often the only hope for many children. Such clinical trials are rarely available via the NHS, so where families wish to access this treatment, their only option is abroad, in the hope of helping them beat this cancer. In the USA, there have been a number of trials with high success rates. The cost for the course of treatment, as well as the associated costs of travelling abroad to access it are estimated in the region of £220,000.

Siobhan has been on a long journey in the last year fighting Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma and managed to get into remission and start her first cycle of immunotherapy on the  10th April. Unfortunately following the first immunotherapy treatment, Siobhan returned home and the very next day a lump was felt on her head. Siobhan had relapsed and the cancer had returned as a tumour in her skull.    In order to get Siobhan ready for the vaccine in America, she will need to undergo further chemotherapy and get back into remission. She will then need to re-commence immunotherapy, which may not be available on the NHS asSiobhan is now outside of the clinical trial criteria to be eligible for the immunotherapy.  This may now have to be funded privately and we are having to increase our fundraising target to £400,000.

The Bradley Lowery foundation is helping Siobhan and her family in order to help achieve their overall target.