Barbara raises over £11,000 for Leukaemia & Lymphoma NI

Barbara Farr along with friends and family organised a drop in tea party in support of the charity after finding out on Christmas Eve that her son Chris had Acute Leukaemia of Ambiguous Lineage (T/Myeloid), an extremely rare form that only five people in the world have had.

Local businessman Chris started his chemotherapy on Christmas Day. Devastatingly the first round did not work, a second round produced more promising results and miraculously a third, incredibly intense set has pushed him into remission. He is currently waiting to go to London for a bone marrow and stem cell transplant.

Chris’s case has been researched by top haematologists. It is due to the type of research that Leukaemia & Lymphoma NI provides that has been so important in his case. To give her a focus through difficult times and to give something back to an organisation that has helped in Chris’s case, Barbara started out having a tea party in her garden but as it got bigger she moved it to St Paul’s church hall and she is simply overwhelmed with the response.

Barbara said: “I started out hoping to just raise a little money for a charity that is helping our family after Chris’s diagnosis on Christmas Eve. There are 99 people diagnosed with blood cancer every month in Northern Ireland so you just never know who else may need them and I wanted to help in some way. This charity is doing vital research which is key to curing these diseases but funding is the only way they can continue to do this.

“I am overwhelmed by people’s generosity – not just the monetary donations but the offers of help and donations of goods. I just cannot believe that we have made over £11 000 for Leukaemia & Lymphoma NI to fund this important work and help others.”

Richard Buchanan, chair of Leukaemia and Lymphoma NI, said: “All at the charity were really delighted to hear that Chris’s treatment is going well.

“£10,000 is a truly amazing amount of money to raise, and helps us keep on funding top quality and high impact blood cancer research at the Patrick G Johnson Centre for Cancer Research in Belfast.

“It is a difficult time for all charities, but donations like this ensure we get ever closer to doing away with these horrible cancers, many of which would have been fatal a generation ago. So, a heartfelt thank you from us all, including the scientists!”

If anyone wishes to donate to Barbara’s fundraiser for the charity you can donate at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Louise-Thompson71