Local family support cancer charity's campaign

The Barr family from Eglinton faced the worst with their three-year-old son Ross and are now helping the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children in their new campaign entitled 'Everyday Amazing' to promote awareness of the needs of children, teenagers and young adults living with cancer in Northern Ireland.

The year long campaign is the first of its kind for the charity and features a new television advertisement starring real families and young people supported by the charity.

Eglinton woman, Sinead Barr is one of the parents featuring in the campaign and her husband Joe, a former professional cyclist, spoke to the Sentinel about the campaign and the help they received from the NI Cancer Fund for Children.

Mr Barr said: "The Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children does so many different things to help families with sick children, Not every parent out there has sympathetic employers, and when one parent has to constantly be with a sick child the financial implications can be enormous, also the Fund can help with heating costs as when you have an ill child at home you have to keep them in a constant warm temperature.

"These are the sorts of little everyday problems that no-one knows or thinks about until they're in the position we were in, but they are still problems that have to be faced and the NICFC helps you do that. We were travelling from Eglinton to the Royal Children's Hospital every day, and we have another older boy at home as well, so effectively we were running two homes, one in Eglinton and one in Belfast. These are all areas where the NICFC can help out.

"At the end of the day the Fund can't cure your child, you are completely powerless in that respect, but when your child is sick there are loads of different problems thrown in your face that you have to deal with and the Fund is there supporting you and offering a number of different things to help you cope.

"They also have a fantastic respite centre in Newcastle. After Ross was diagnosed it must have been four or five months from it started until all four members of our family were in the same room together.

"At the respite centre, you get to spend quality time with all your children, as the staff take over all the ordinary everyday things like cooking and cleaning, so you can really devote all your time to your family."

Mr Barr explained why his family became involved in the latest campaign for the Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children: "It's a natural progression. From the moment your child is diagnosed you go through all these different stages until you reach the point we are at now, and looking back you realise that what keeps this whole thing going is the people who end up where we are now, helping those who are in the position we were in three years ago.

"Most people are sympathetic when they discover you have a sick child, but no matter how hard they try they can never really understand what it's like unless they've lived through it. That's why it's so important for families like us to give something back, because we know what it's like and how it feels when you're told your child has cancer.

"Before my son got sick I was as ignorant as everyone else of what it really means to have a seriously ill child, most people don't realise that three families every week here are being told that their child has cancer."

As for words of hope for other parents facing the awful news that his family had to cope with, Mr Barr added: "In this situation all you can do is take each take each hour as it comes, not even each day as it comes but each hour.

"Because when you're right in the middle of this, a day is too long, so much can happen in just one day, you face huge highs and huge lows, one minute you think things are getting better and suddenly the next minute they're getting worse again, it's a psychological rollercoaster.

"To expect other families who haven't experienced this to understand it is impossible, that's why families who have been through it tend to congregate together, because they have one big thing in common - understanding."

'Everyday Amazing' went live last month and the advertisement can also be viewed on www.nicfc.com

To make a donation to the NI Cancer Fund for Children, please call 0800 0838 162 or visit the website.