Little Robyn is in a race against time

A NORTHSIDE mum is in a desperate race against time to raise the

?¬280,000 needed for a vaccine that could save the life of her 10-year-old daughter who suffers from a rare form of cancer.

Robyn Smyth (10) from Whitehall has neuroblastoma – a rare and aggressive form of cancer that can spread to the nervous system – and has only a five per cent chance of surviving.

Her family has been given hope from a groundbreaking, potentially lifesaving vaccine available at a New York hospital, but it costs over half a million euro.

Previous fundraising efforts have raised an incredible

?¬200,000 for Robyn’s treatment, but despite the brilliant response the family still need another

?¬300,000 before she can undergo vaccine trials.

Robyn is currently well enough to take part in the trials that are only available at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), but her condition could change any day and make her an unsuitable candidate.

Robyn’s mum, Bernadette Dornan, is now pleading with Northsiders to do whatever they can to help provide her beautiful daughter with a lifeline before it’s too late.

“She’s well at the moment but the chances of this progressing and getting worse increase every day,

? she told Northside People.

“It could happen at any minute.

“So far Robyn has done well and the fact that she’s doing well means she can actually get onto this trial, but that can change very quickly.

“We can’t hang around. I feel like we’re leaving her defenceless. I know it sounds impossible, but we need to get her the vaccine as soon as absolute possible.

?

Two years ago a fundraising drive got Robyn to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) where her stem cells were successfully harvested, opening up more treatment options that have helped keep the cancer at bay.

Bernadette is something of an expert on her daughter’s condition, having attended several international conferences with some of the world’s leading specialists in neuroblastoma treatment.

It was while attending a recent conference that she learned about the vaccine in New York’s MSKCC.

“I knew there was a vaccine but I didn’t know much about it,

? Bernadette said.

“I went to a conference a couple of months ago to see if it could be suitable for Robyn and I discovered this vaccine isn’t available anywhere else in the world.

?

Cancer vaccines can train the body’s immune system to recognise and destroy cancer cells. MSKCC is currently carrying out preclinical testing of several neuroblastoma-specific vaccines and Bernadette has good reason to be optimistic.

“I was told that out of the 15 people who went on the first trial, 12 or 13 of them were still in remission a few years later,

? she said.

“There’s another trial with 35 on it and the official data isn’t available for that yet but I’ve just been told that the majority are still in remission.

?

The push to get Robyn onto the vaccine trials is now underway and while Bernadette describes the initial response as

“brilliant

? it’s a race against time to raise the money needed.

“Within two weeks we raised over

?¬20,000 but obviously we need a lot more,

? she said.

“We need people out doing collections and hosting events that don’t take a lot of organising. The hospital want

?¬525,000 so we’re roughly

?¬280,000 short.

?

Between hospital appointments, looking after her three-year-old daughter Millie and trying to protect Robyn from the drama around her Bernadette struggles to find the time needed to organise fundraising events.

And while she does whatever she can for her daughter, she’s pleading with Northsiders to help by hosting events themselves.

“I get a lot of messages from people suggesting great ideas but I physically just don’t have the time to do them all,

? she said.

“People have been great. One girl came forward recently and said she’d do a pub quiz and she just did it. She was fantastic and that’s exactly what we need. She raised

?¬1,000 in one night.

“And Cllr Cathleen Carney Boud (SF) went around the pubs in Finglas and in the space of an hour raised

?¬500. I’m just so thankful to them. That’s the sort of thing we need, people just going out and doing something.

“It would be great if people could contact us and let us know what they’re doing, and then just work away. We just need it done now.

?

Supporters of Robyn’s family are asking Northsiders to use Facebook to spread the word. Dozens have already changed their profile pictures to that of Robyn and the family hope a viral message will help the campaign reach its fundraising target.

Robyn’s family has also set up a text line and an online donation page at idonate.ie/robynslife. Texting 57802 to ROBYN will donate

?¬2 to Robyn’s Life Trust.