The Institute of Cancer Research – ICR shared on LinkedIn:
“‘Abbie wasn’t a cancer patient. She was just Abbie. Our daughter.’
Mike Shaw‘s daughter, Abbie, was diagnosed with adrenal neuroblastoma just a few months before her second birthday. At first, her parents thought she was just under the weather but after noticing she’d lost weight, a large tumour was discovered in her stomach. Abbie underwent surgery to remove the tumour, her left kidney and adrenal gland.
On Christmas Eve, she was given her first dose of chemotherapy drugs. Weeks later, Mike and his family were told Abbie had neuroblastoma, a cancer that develops in nerve tissue, usually affecting children under the age of five.
Despite undergoing various treatments including chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant and radiotherapy, her cancer kept returning. But she never lost her kind, bubbly and happy spirit – as Mike says, ‘She squeezed absolutely every opportunity out of every minute she had, and she made everyone happy to be around her.’
Abbie died when she was five.
Our researchers are making vital discoveries about how childhood cancers grow and develop over time, helping them to find more effective and personalised treatment options to improve outcomes for young children like Abbie.
Mike says: ‘The progress that’s being made by researchers is incredible. When we first met with the ICR more than 15 years ago and spoke about making neuroblastoma survivable – that seemed like such a faint hope at the time, and now it looks like it might be possible.’
You can also read: How Lewis Hamilton and F1 Helped Raise £275K for Childhood Cancer Research
