'Harry's Night' Raises Chemotherapy Cash

A Lower Tean family have marked the first anniversary of their son's leukaemia diagnosis by hosting a fundraising event for local children’s cancer services through UHNM Charity.

‘Harry's Night’ was organised by parents Katie and Ryan Saunders and raised more than £3,000 for the Children’s Oncology Department at University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM).

The evening featured live music in the form of an Elvis impersonator and a disco.

Mum Katie said: "Harry's diagnosis was so fast paced which was a massive shock to my system. Chemotherapy began within a couple of days with an operation to have a central line fitted.”

“Harry and I were on our own, trying to deal with the hardest situation a parent can find themselves in."

"The past year the care and support we have all received from the staff on Ward 217b at the Royal Stoke University Hospital has been incredible, the staff are like a second family.”

The family including Harry’s dad Ryan, older brother Ollie and his identical twin brother George all wanted to give something back to the team at UHNM.

Katie added: “We held Harry's Night and raised an amazing £3,200 with 146 tickets sold for the event. We had also raised £1,200 from a Three Peaks Challenge we did and with a last minute donation coming in our total was a fantastic £4,500 for the Children's Oncology ward. It was amazing to get the chance to present the staff with our very own large cheque to say thank you."

"We really do just want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts, to everyone who has joined us on our journey and we can’t wait to see the difference the money will make to the unit."