Please watch this video made by parents Aundrea and Phil Bannatyne whose youngest son James was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour called a medulloblastoma in 2008.

As parents their world collapsed. Within a week of being diagnosed James had his 1st brain operation lasting 10 gruelling hours. This was followed by a further 4 brain operations, 10 intense courses of chemotherapy and 25 blasts of radiotherapy, all within 1 year of diagnosis. This short film follows James’ journey.

Aundrea says,

“My role as a mother changed to that of nurse; I had to learn how to feed my son through the tube in his nose, clean his central line, which was the line fed directly into his chest that his chemotherapy was put though, inject him daily in his leg and force the countless amounts of tablets and medicine into him daily. Being a cancer patient makes the sufferer and their family very isolated; because the chemo wiped out all James’ immunity, we could no longer socialise with family or friends as we were so worried James would pick up an infection.

“Family life was shattered, and my oldest son Jack suffered terribly. Our wee family unit of 4 went to a family of 2 as myself or my husband was always at hospital with James, meaning Jack was only ever with one of us at any given time. It was during one of our numerous stays in hospital that I was put in touch with Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children.

“The charity totally looked after us, providing us with financial support. They also offered us Shimna Valley, a respite home set in a quiet mountain retreat. From the minute you walk through the doors of Shimna Valley a huge weight is lifted off your shoulders and a calm descends on you. The staff look after you from morning until night, meaning you don’t have to worry about cooking and cleaning, things that are such a chore when you’re caring for a seriously ill child. Shimna allowed us to spend quality time together as a family and that is priceless.”

Aundrea’s close friend Jennifer Thompson is trekking the Inca Trail to raise money to support Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children. If you would like to support her challenge please click here.

Aundrea adds,

“We wish there was no need for a children’s cancer charity. But the reality is childhood cancer exists and that is why we need to make sure we can raise as much money as possible so Northern Ireland Cancer Fund for Children can continue to provide an outstanding and much needed service.”

Updated on: 15th August, 2011