Loch Ness and the Loch Ness  area is often the venue for a wonderful array of fundraising and awareness raising events from all over the world.

This week we have seen a large group from Ireland raising money by swimming accros the Loch. They join the many who have chosen to swim, canoe, kayak, sail, run, walk, cycle, dive, snorkle, windsurf, fly and more accross and around Loch Ness before them, and there will of course be many who will follow them in the future.

Its a testament to the hold that Loch Ness has in people’s imagination that they choose this location to come to to help them raise money for their favourite charity - especially when the cause is often based far away.

Whatever the charity - fundraisers always have a personal involvement, and the pleasure that they get from completing their challenge can only be mirrored by the feeling of support from the recipiants of thier hard work.

I came accross a news story this week that was a little closer to home.  It is about a little two year old girl called Phoebe who lives in the village of Lochend at the northern end of Loch Ness.  Pheobe has her own Monster to deal with in the form of an agressive childhood cancer. 

The article, and the link to Phoebe’s website which shows how you can help, is below.

Weekend home visit for brave Lochend toddler
Press & Journal By Samantha Chetwynd, Published: 14/07/2008

A  Lochend toddler who is getting gruelling treatment for a rare and aggressive cancer returned home at the weekend for a brief visit.

Two-year-old Phoebe Macaskill is fighting neuroblastoma, having been diagnosed earlier this year.

For the last 14 weeks she has been getting a variety of invasive procedures at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow. After 80 days of chemotherapy and a stem-cell transplant, doctors agreed to let the toddler return home to Lochend for the weekend.

Yesterday her mother Rhona, 30, who has two other children Jude, 5, and Laina, 4, said Phoebe’s latest scan showed her tumour has shrunk considerably.

“There is still a long way to go but this is really good news,” said the mother. “We’re just pleased to have been able to bring her home. We’re just spending time with family and friends. When we turned into Lochend she said ‘home, my home’. It’s really nice to have her home, although she seems just happy as long as mummy or daddy is there. She’s excited at being able to sleep in her own bed. We’ve had to bring all her feeding equipment home which is in her bedroom and Jude said its Phoebe’s own hospital.”

Neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system, strikes around 100 children every year and has a survival rate of only 20%.

Phoebe was returning to hospital today for further treatment, including surgery on the tumour and more high-dose chemotherapy.

If necessary Mrs Macaskill and her husband, self-employed builder Chris, 36, will take Phoebe to New York for a special antibody treatment at a cancer centre, where there is a 60% success rate.

This will cost £250,000 and family and friends have started a fundraising drive which includes a tour on Loch Ness on August 9.

To find out more about the campaign visit www.phoebemacaskill.com.

 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Blether. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.