Samuel’s story

They told us he had leukaemia. Our world stopped spinning.

My son Samuel loved playing on his scooter and running around outside. He was a giggly little boy just like any other two-year-old. But when I noticed he was more tired than usual and spotted a rash, I took him to the doctor’s. I thought I was wasting their time. We were devastated by Samuel’s diagnosis. I wanted to ask “Is he going to die?” but I was too scared to say those words out loud.

Samuel had to spend 10 weeks in John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, the nearest children’s cancer hospital to our home in Swindon. Only one of us could stay there overnight with Samuel while he was going through treatment. Having to say goodbye to Samuel each night was unbearable.

By making a donation today, you could give an exhausted family like mine a place to stay close to their child, helping them face the anxiety and worry cancer brings.

Travelling to and from hospital to see Samuel just added to our stress and exhaustion

Me and my husband had to take it in turns to drive the 30 miles from Swindon to Oxford so we could be with our little boy. The traffic was always horrendous and it was nearly impossible to find a parking space once you got there. It was so frustrating that something so simple was taking up precious time that we should have been spending with our son.

We were close to breaking point; Grace saved us

Our amazing Young Lives vs Cancer Social Worker Grace arranged for us to stay at CLIC Court, one of the charity’s Homes from Home. Families with a child going through cancer treatment can stay there at no cost, for as long as they need.

The Home from Home helped so much with our worry and anxiety. It didn’t just save us hours of travelling and hundreds of pounds in petrol, it meant we could be with Samuel when he woke up and be by his side when he went to sleep at night. I felt so much calmer having a parking space close to hospital and a place to sleep just over the road, instead of having to tackle the long drive home.

With a donation today, you can make sure families like mine have a safe haven close to their child and an amazing social worker like Grace there for them every step of the way.

We will never be able to repay the amazing support of people like you, which meant we could use all our energy to focus on Samuel getting better. He’s doing really well now. But there are so many other families who are still in desperate need. I know how much of a difference your support can make to these families’ lives.

Please give what you can to make sure more families can stay together when facing cancer.

Amy, Samuel’s mum