When businessman Peter Done was visiting the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital this summer he met a young patient. Ava Le Blanc captured his heart.
She had the same name and was the same age as his own granddaughter - but had spent most of her ten years in and out of hospital. When she was just two and a half, Ava was diagnosed with a brain tumour. She had surgery but it returned and she became ill again when she was five. The radiotherapy she required had side effects, but through it all she kept her smile.
And, on the same day of his visit to the hospital that he met Ava, Peter phoned his company's HQ and told a colleague she had inspired him to raise another £1m on top of the £2m his firm and staff and already donated to the hospital.
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Peter, founder and Chief Executive of the Salford-based Peninsula Group, said: “I was blown away when I met Ava in the summer; she is the spitting image of my granddaughter Ava, same age, same personality. The only difference is she has spent 8 years in and out of the hospital. I decided then and there that we would raise another million pounds, and we’re looking to do it in record time.
“We’ve got to do everything we can to help this amazing, lifesaving hospital. Everyone at the Peninsula Group has stepped up, I’m so proud of the way they have really got involved, and I’d like to call on the business community to do the same. Let’s come together and really make a difference in the lives of all the children like Ava who need the world class care and support provided by Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.”
Ava's mum, Charlene, from Bury, said: "When Peter first met Ava and said she was like his granddaughter I thought he was joking just to make her feel at ease. But it was true.
"I am overwhelmed by what he is doing. It is amazing to think how many thousands of children will ultimately be helped. It also shows what a remarkable girl Ava is."
Ava is now eleven and her condition is stable. "She has regular follow ups, and scans and is living with the side effects of the radiotherapy. But she never complains and goes with the flow of hospital visits, and takes it in her stride.
"She has a great sense of humour, quite grown up for her age. She's amazing really, and loves Harry Potter and she goes horse riding."
Charlene, 37, who with her husband, Marc, has two other children, Leo, seven, and Esmé, three, said: "When she was first diagosed with the tumour at two and a half she was given a 20 to 30 percent chance of living for another five years. We have gone beyond that.
"She is now classed as a long term survivor. I believe it is a miracle. I can't fault the treatment she has had. She has had the same consulant over the years, Dr John-Paul Kilday."
Wen Ava was she was first diagnosed with a brain tumour she told her mum she felt dizzy, like the room was spinning. Over the next few days Ava became sick, lost her sense of balance and started holding her head tilted to one side.
Charlene took Ava to A&E where a CT scan revealed a mass on Ava’s brain. She was referred to RMCH straight away for an MRI scan that showed that the mass on her brain was a tumour. Charlene said: “Nothing prepares you for the shock of getting news like that. We were heartbroken.”
Five days later, Ava went into surgery to have the tumour removed. The operation took around 10 hours and revealed that the tumour was cancerous. Ava stayed in hospital for most of the next eight months receiving a total of five gruelling and debilitating cycles of chemotherapy, followed by high dose chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.
Today, Peninsula and charity staff were gathered at the company’s headquarters to celebrate the £2m milestone with a Christmas party when the surprise announcement of another £1m was made.
The first £2m was specifically for the RMCH Charity’s iMRI Appeal. the next £1m Peninsula Group want to raise will be for general funds for the hospital. This means it has the potential to touch the lives of all the 280,000-plus children that visit the hospital each and every year, regardless of where in the hospital they’re treated.
Peter said: “I’ve got a very personal connection with Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, as do many of the team here at Peninsula Group. It’s a cause that’s so close to our hearts.
"I’ve been honoured to meet some of the young patients cared for by the hospital and I’ve seen first-hand the incredible things the hospital achieves each and every day. The invaluable support given to 280,000 families every year - not just in medical terms, but emotional and practical support too - shines a light of hope on what will be some of the most challenging days of their lives.
“We know what a difference our support has made to the iMRI Scanner Appeal, and now we want to push forward and make an active difference to the lives and futures of other children just like Ava. We hope the business community will join forces with Peninsula Group in our quest to do everything we can to help this amazing Charity do what it does best: make life better for the hospital’s patients and their families.
“Hitting the £2 million target was such a fantastic achievement and I’m so proud of each and every Peninsula Group staff member who helped us reach our goal and is here today to celebrate with us. But now we want to get started on that next £1 million and take our total to £3million. This will be a great way to kick off 2023."
To help raise the next £1million, Peninsula Group will encourage other businesses they work with to chip in.
"Peninsula Group will lead by example and encourage other corporate supporters to do their own fundraising for Royal Manchester Children's Hospital Charity, which Peninsula will match-fund pound for pound," they said.
Tanya Hamid, Interim Director of Charities at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “Peninsula Group’s generosity seems never ending. The announcement they wanted to pledge an additional £1million, just after finishing raising £2million for the iMRI Appeal, is just incredible. We couldn’t believe it. We’re very proud to have them on board as corporate partners."
The charity’s £5m iMRI Appeal will help the hospital to purchase state-of-the-art intra-operative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (iMRI) equipment which will revolutionise surgical care at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
Every year, thousands of children and young people from across the region attend RMCH for specialist neurological treatment. Sadly, many will require complex brain surgery for a range of debilitating and even life-threatening conditions including brain tumours, traumatic brain injuries, problems with the central nervous system and epilepsy.
The specialist team of children’s neurosurgeons at RMCH rely on MRI scans taken before surgery to guide them to the area of the brain requiring treatment. Sometimes a child needs to be scanned during surgery, which means the risky process of moving a child (still anaesthetised on the operating table) out of theatre and through the hospital corridors to be scanned in another part of the building.
Yet it isn’t until another MRI scan is taken after surgery – perhaps days later – that surgeons can see if the surgery was successful, or if any damaged tissue or tumour was left behind and further invasive surgery is needed. The iMRI machine cuts out this process by offering scans during the surgery, giving surgeons up-to-date images as the operation is being carried out.
