Em10
Hi, Emilie here.
I was 17 when my whole world was turned upside down and I was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Over the course of 18 months, I underwent intensive treatment, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, a stem cell harvest, and over ten operations. One of these included the removal of half my sacrum, the location of the tumour.
It was an extremely dark and scary time, but I am so lucky to say that in December this year, I will be 10 years cancer free. This feels like a huge milestone, and I can’t help but reflect on all the wonderful organisations that helped to make life that little bit more bearable during those long 18 months. It’s heart breaking that others will have to go through what I endured which is why I am so passionate to give back to the charities that hold a special place in my heart. They need vital funds so that others can benefit like I did and continue doing amazing work with children & young people battling a cancer diagnosis.
That’s where the idea of Em10 came in. Despite chronic pain from my operations, I love being active and love a challenge and so I had the idea of doing 10 events to raise money for these organisations, one for every year I’ve been cancer free. Many of these events won’t be easy for me, but there was a time when these activities would have been completely impossible for me and so, despite the pain, I want to celebrate just how far I have come and show that we are stronger than we think!
The ten events are:
1. Great Run Manchester – 10K – 26th May 2024
2. Yorkshire 3 Peaks – 22nd June 2024
3. Belvoir Castle Triathlon – 28th July 2024
4. Charity Swim – 57 miles – my house to St James Hospital Leeds – over the course of the weekend, everyone swims and sends proof of their distances to me, and they’ll get pooled together - 10-11th August 2024
5. Coast 2 Coast Cycle – 23-26th August 2024
6. Great North Run – HM – 8th September 2024
7. Charity Netball Tournament Manchester – 18th November 2024 - The Velodrome, Manchester
8. Ongoing Cancer Research charity shop drive – using my gift aid number will let us know how much we have raised. 18382098 Heald M1 2FU - find your nearest shop here.
9. Ongoing blood/Platelet drive – I can’t do this anymore, but I needed a lot of both, so people giving on my behalf – take a picture whilst there and tag me in the picture on Instagram (@em10_cic) using the hashtag #Em10 so I can make a collage at the end! (or alternatively email to evheald@heald.uk.com) - find your nearest blood donation centre here or platelet centre here.
10. Charity Ball (including charity auction) – 14th December 2024 – The Deep, Hull – tickets on sale soon.
I’ve got some amazing friends and family who have already signed up for some of these events with me, and other awesome friends who want to do their own events to help me to raise money for all these wonderful charities too. The more the merrier, so if anyone would like to join, please sign up and let me know.
Alternatively, if anyone is doing an activity and you do not have a specific charity/cause, then this is a great one to do it for!
Thank you so much for reading this spiel, and any donations, however big or small, will be greatly appreciated!
P.S. If anyone has anything they would like to donate to the charity auction, which will be taking place in December, please email me at evheald@heald.uk.com. Thank you <3
Below are the charities I’ve chosen to support and the reasons why:
o The little princess trust – so they can continue to make wigs for children and young people.
· I’m not actually sure where my wig came from but the difference it made to my confidence was enormous, it allowed me to feel normal again so I would like to give to this charity as it helps other children and young people to feel like I did.
o Teenage Cancer Trust offers unique care and support, designed for and with young people. They fund specialised nurses, youth workers and hospital units in the NHS, so young people have dedicated staff and facilities to support them throughout treatment. They run events for young people with cancer to help them regain independence and meet other young people going through something similar. And they provide easy-to-understand information about every aspect of living with cancer as a young person.
· I spent little time on adult wards, but my experience would not have been anywhere near as manageable if I hadn’t had been on a TCT ward. My friends were allowed to visit, and I was always allowed someone to stay with me, I was never alone and got to meet so many wonderful people going through the same thing, it saddens me to say but many of which are not here today. I can’t stress enough what they do and how much of a huge impact they have on young people with cancer.
o Make-A-Wish - to give people the experience of a lifetime whilst enduring such a horrible time. Over 60,000 children in the UK have been diagnosed with a critical condition, changing their lives and the lives of their families forever. For them, the joy of childhood is brought to an abrupt end, with treatment plans, hospital visits and sleepless nights taking over. A wish revives a childhood stolen by critical illness. It brings light and joy to children and their loved ones and leaves a profound and lasting impact on all their lives.
· My wish was for my grandma to meet the Queen, so my grandma, dad and I got to go to the Queen’s Garden party, in which the queen was in attendance, and we met the present and future Duchess of Gloucester.
o Bone cancer research trust – to be able to find better treatment so that no one has to go through what I went through and so that more people can survive this horrible disease.
o Young Lives vs Cancer – so that they can continue to support children and young people and their families at such a life changing time.
· They supported me so that I could have a nice day out with my family.
o Cancer Research UK - to help fund vital research so that better treatment can be found for all cancer's. This will be done via the Charity Shop Drive.
o Ward 94 (St James Hospital, Leeds) and The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham – this is where I spent the majority of my time, so I’d like to give back to this ward where I had most of my treatment and the hospital where I had my operation, to say thank you and so they can continue helping people like me. They are not a charity so some proceeds from the ball will be donated to these.
Our Charities
