Jacob

Please direct your attention to the top right hand corner of my blog. That right there is a donation button, and I'd like you to give it your full consideration. I fully understand that times are hard, and spare money is pretty hard to come by these days, and I will still love you if you ignore that little button completely. All I ask of you is you attention, just for few minutes, while I tell you why I am asking for your help.

This is my cousin Gemma.

We have always been insanely close, and my sister, her sister and I grew up together, in childhoods I can only describe as perfect. I have seen her grow into such an incredible and strong woman that I can hardly believe I get to know someone so incredible. I am in awe of her. Here's why. In December 2009, Gemma had a baby. 

This is Jacob. Is he, or is he not the most beautiful baby you've ever seen? To say we were excited about his arrival would be an understatement, because he is the very first of his generation, the first great-grandchild, the first baby I've ever really had proper contact with. I love him so much! In June last year, Jacob was diagnosed with a brain tumour. To call this a shock would be a complete understatement. I think we've all been in shock ever since then.

This kid is incredible though. He has been through 10 rounds of chemo so far, and a huge operation to remove the tumour, which also involved removing a large part of his skull. He has been unbelievably brave, in the face of unthinkable circumstances, and we are all so proud of him already. His progress has been incredible in spite of his condition, and we long and hope and believe it will continue.

The next step of Jacob's journey is one for which we are seeking your help. Along with his mum and dad, Jacob is flying over to America, Florida to be exact, to get Proton treatment to try and make sure that the malignant and unfeeling cancer that has invaded his innocent body is destroyed once and for all. While the NHS is paying for the flights and Jacob's treatment (which is amazing, and one of the very reasons that it cannot be destroyed), there are still living expenses to think of that will obviously stack up over the 12 weeks that they need to stay there. If you can, and if you feel comfortable doing so, I would be so grateful if you could donate anything that you can afford, so that we can get Jacob better. 

I obviously understand if you don't want to, and I think you're amazing just for considering donating. I don't even know how we're going to all get through those 12 weeks, but if the finances are taken care of, we can all just focus all of our attention and good vibes onto Jacob, who deserves to get better after spending most of his life fighting this terrible insidious disease. We believe he can beat it, and with your help, we can help make things just that little bit easier for everyone involved.

Thank you for reading. If you don't feel like you can donate, but you have some rich friends, please pass this onto them for their consideration, and feel free to tweet about it on twitter. Anything you can do to help will be so much more than I could ask for, and thank you for reading down to this point.

I managed to get a donate button in my post too, thanks to my extremely good friend Frances :)- So you can click where you like, really.


Also, if you want to read more about Jacob and his struggles, please go to his Daddy's blog, and read his very moving post too.