A FUNDRAISING campaign set up by the parents of a teenager who died from a rare cancer a week after receiving her A level results has now raised more than £10,000.
Katherine Neill (18) from Banbridge, Co Down, died from the rare cancer Rhabdomyosarcoma on Thursday after being diagnosed in July 2015.
Sarcomas are rare cancers that develop in the supporting or connective tissues of the body.
There are around 3800 new cases of sarcoma diagnosed each year in the UK, yet just one charity in Northern Ireland provides specialist support for patients - the Boom Foundation.
Sarcomas account for about 11 percent of childhood cancers and about 14 percent of cancers in teenagers.
Following their daughter's death, parents Roisin and Gary Neill set up an online fundraising campaign in memory of Katherine, with all donations going to the work of the Boom Foundation.
Charity founder Leona Rankin said she was "flabbergasted" at the response from the appeal.
"It's incredible," she said.
"I spoke to Katherine's parents at the weekend and obviously it's a difficult one because on the one side we are so grateful of the money being raised and the awareness being raised, but unfortunately we would never want the circumstances that lead to it.
"We would much prefer Katherine was able to survive it, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Her parents were very brave in taking this decision and I'm flabbergasted at the amount it has raised in just a few days," she continued.
Ms Rankin originally from Coleraine, but who works as a solicitor in Belfast, set up the charity after her fiancée Philip Wilson (36) died from sarcoma on March 8, 2013.
"I set up the charity when my fiancée died, because there was really no support for him or for our family when he was ill," she said.
"We didn't have much information, there was no support groups, there was just a lack of support really. We wanted to make sure other families didn't go through what we had to when Philip was so poorly.
"It was just really to plug the gap in the support system and also to raise awareness that would lead to early diagnosis and hopefully increase survival rates," she said.
The volunteer-led charity provides wide-ranging support to patients diagnosed with sarcoma, including support groups, financial assistance and respite care.
For Katherine's family the charity helped contribute towards a winter fuel allowance and supported private home tutoring so that the Banbridge Academy student could take her A Level examinations.
"It's lovely to see that Katherine's family benefited through our work. We didn't give them as much support as we would have wanted, but it is heart-warming that we managed to give them some comfort through such difficult times," she added.
:: For more information on The Boom Foundation you can visit their website at - www.theboomfoundation.co.uk
