Dunboyne family features in new Irish Cancer Society video for Daffodil Day
The family of a Dunboyne teenager who received a shock cancer diagnosis at the age of 12 has featured in a new video for the Irish Cancer Society ahead of its Daffodil Day fundraiser this Friday 25th March.
The appearance of a lump on her neck in late 2019 proved the first warning sign for Abi Buckley that all was not right, but she and her family could never have prepared for the news months later that she had metastatic papillary thyroid cancer, a rare form of the disease in children.
Abi would go on to have surgery involving the removal of her thyroid along with 46 lymph nodes on one side of her neck, followed by a course of therapy that involved her taking a radioactive iodine pill and staying in isolation in the hospital for five days.
Thankfully Abi has been progressing well with her treatment since that worrying time, although it has been a difficult journey with the outbreak of the pandemic coming soon after her diagnosis.
Abi’s mum Michelle reached out to the Irish Cancer Society for advice after discovering the troubling news, and in the video she thanks the Society and its nurses for the help they received.
“My mum and dad came over and just sat down on either side of me, and they told me I had cancer, and I just sat there in shock trying to process what they had just said. The two big questions were ‘am I going to die? Am I going to lose my hair?’,” said Abi .
Her mum Michelle added: “The first people we thought of to talk to was the Irish Cancer Society. I got to speak to a very nice nurse on the phone, and told her that we’d found out that morning that our 12-year-old had cancer, and we didn’t know what to do. How do you tell your 12-year-old daughter that she has cancer?
“Very calmly she said ‘she’s 12, she has a phone, all she has to do is key in the words lump, neck and she’d find out. It’s better that she finds out from you, and you have to be honest with her.’
“I think most of us are going to be touched by cancer. The Irish Cancer Society were there for us when we really needed them, because we didn’t know who else to turn to. If I could do anything and everything to raise money to fund research to try and stop cancer I would, we all would.
“I’m just absolutely blown away by Abi and the bravery she has shown through all this. Every day to get up and keep going, she’s really shown her mettle, and if anyone deserves to get through this she does.”
The full video featuring Abi and Michelle Buckley is available here: Abi and Michelle | Childhood Cancer Awareness | Irish Cancer Society - YouTube
On top of supporting life-changing cancer research, the Irish Cancer Society provides vital services to patients and their families in Meath each year, including supporting 340 counselling sessions, 213 nights of in-home Night Nursing for patients in their final days, and 921 Volunteer Driving lifts to get patients safely to and from their hospital appointments in 2021.
As Daffodil Day returns to the streets of Ireland for the first time since 2019 on March 25, the Irish Cancer Society is calling on the public to take part in any way they can to show solidarity and support for anyone affected by cancer.
Every day cancer takes so much from so many families and Daffodil Day is a chance to come together and take something back, giving hope and raising funds so that one day cancer will take no more.
People are being asked to take part and take back from cancer in any way they can this Daffodil Day. As well as donating at Cancer.ie and volunteering to help fundraise, they can purchase items from the Daffodil Day online shop and take part in a steps challenge.
Irish Cancer Society CEO Averil Power said: “We are so excited to be able to get out on the streets again to see the amazing support the people of Ireland show to anyone affected by cancer. Daffodil Day is such a special and hopeful day for our entire community. Throughout the pandemic we’ve been so lucky that people have found innovative ways to support us but we are looking forward to seeing Ireland turn yellow once again on March 25.
“Daffodil Day is our most important fundraising event of the year and the money raised goes directly to funding crucial supports including our Support Line, free counselling, our Night Nurses to provide end of life care, and financial support for families of children affected by cancer. Along with these services, the money raised on Daffodil Day allows us to support life-changing cancer research.”
For more information about Daffodil Day visit www.Cancer.ie/DaffodilDay .