My Friend Ruby

In February this year we received the devastating news that Oliver’s best friend, Ruby (aged 2 at diagnosis but now 3), had been diagnosed with leukaemia (ALL). As parents, your first thought is always to protect and shelter your own child, however we quickly decided that Oliver (who is only 3 weeks younger than his friend Ruby) should not be sheltered from knowing about Ruby’s illness but instead it should be used as a
learning experience for him.  Oliver is able to tell you all about the “baddies” in Ruby’s blood and how although the chemo she is going through sometimes makes her feel more poorly, this is actually the goodies that are fighting back to make her better again. He has
visited Ruby in hospital and more recently met up at the park to play with his friend.  He has also enjoyed having Lucy, Ruby’s younger sister, round for playdates too.  As the weeks have gone on we have discussed various parts of Ruby’s treatment including her nasal tube and most recently Ruby’s hair loss. While Ruby has not completely lost all her hair during treatment she has lost most so Oliver and I discussed how having hair makes no difference to a person as a friend and Ruby would still play the same and chat the same even though she looks a little different.  Oliver quickly said he would like to match Ruby and have all his hair cut off. At first I tried to ignore this thinking he’s only 3 and he often says things he doesn’t really mean. However the subject has continued to be brought up and this in turn has led to discussions about charities and how people raise money for good
causes.

Oliver would love to raise money for Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity – The Schiehallion Appeal.  Money from this appeal goes directly to the
ward Ruby was in and Oliver visited when he went to see his friend. He will be having his hair shaved off on Monday 2nd July to support Ruby and the other children on the wards and would love to raise as much money as he can to help fund children’s cancer.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.