A YOUNG Co Tyrone woman given just months to live after contracting a rare form of cancer has raised almost £20,000 for charity in less than a week.
Courageous Coalisland woman Shannon Whitehouse (26) was diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma last January. Since then she has undergone a gruelling regime of chemotherapy along with 42 sessions of radiotherapy.
Just last Thursday however she received the devastating news that her treatment had been unsuccessful and was told by doctors she has months to live.
Now in a selfless gesture Shannon has set her sights on raising much needed cash for charity in a bid to raise awareness of the rare cancer which affects mainly young people and forms in the bones or soft tissue.
After setting up a JustGiving page last Sunday she has already raised a staggering £19,471 for cancer charity The Boom Foundation.
Shannon last night explained how she knew something was wrong last year when she felt a pain in her hip.
After initially visiting her doctor she attended a physiotherapist but later attended accident and emergency at Craigavon Area Hospital after noticing swelling.
While there tests were carried out and a week later she was given the shocking news that she had cancer.
“I had a bit of an inkling but to hear a doctor confirm your fears, it was devastating,” she said.
“Not so much for me but for everyone around me, to see them heartbroken, that’s the hardest.”
Shannon finished a seven month course of chemotherapy last November, while her radiotherapy treatment came to an end two weeks before Christmas.
Just last Thursday she was given the numbing news that the treatments had failed to cure her cancer.
“Throughout my treatment I had scans to make sure it was working and it seemed to be doing the job,” she said.
“The pain had gone. I could feel before Christmas it had started up again and I knew something was wrong.”
She revealed that while treatment can still be offered, the outlook is bleak.
“At the minute they could offer me chemo but it won’t cure me, it’s more just to try and contain it,” she said.
“They say it won’t be years, I will be lucky to have months.”
Shannon said she was “heartbroken” when the bad news was delivered.
“Especially being so young and thinking about all the things you will never get to do,” she said.
While Shannon remains upbeat she has yet to decide if she will undergo more treatment.
“If it’s not going to make a difference I don’t think I will take it.
“I want to make the most of what time I have.”
“I lost my eyebrows and lashes and nails and they have started to come back, I don’t want to lose them again.”
She revealed that her father Thomas who suffers from multiple sclerosis is cared for full time by her mother Siobhan.
“So there is already a bit of pressure,” she said.
Shannon said she felt she had to try and raise cash and awareness of her form of cancer.
“At the start I did not want to be known as the sick girl or a poster girl for cancer,” she said.
“Because it’s so rare, if I don’t speak up who is going to do anything for it.
“A lot of people don’t know what sarcoma is.
“I just want to spread as much word as possible.”
She revealed that when she set up her JustGiving page she set a target of £2,500 and just six days later has almost hit the £20,000 mark.
“I think the whole fundraising thing is a nice distraction,” she said.
Shannon paid a glowing tribute to the people of her home town.
“A lot of people give it a bad rap and look to put it down but it’s been the most amazing village,” she said.
She added that people have been “calling with prayers and relics, even people I have never met”.
“They have been unbelievable,” she said.
She told how she was forced to give up work at a financial advisers firm in Lurgan while she received treatment at the Northern Ireland Cancer Centre at Belfast City Hospital, where she often stayed as an inpatient during gruelling bouts of chemotherapy.
Last night she also spoke highly of the cancer centre, which she described as “amazing”.
A ‘Shine for Shannon’ fundraising event due to be held this Saturday in Coalisland Parochial Hall is almost sold out.
The evening will include games, raffles and music.
Proceeds from the event will also go to The Boom Foundation, which offers support to people diagnosed with Ewing's sarcoma.
Cash raised by The Boom Foundation is split between offering practical help and vital research.
To make a donation to Shannon’s JustGiving page visit justgiving.com/fundraising/shannon-whitehouse.
