Elsie Mae's Story - Childhood Cancer Awareness Month

"It was like somebody put a little blanket around us and told us, you know, it's okay. You know, here, you're safe. Here you can breathe."

Elsie Mae was just two years old when she was diagnosed with Leukaemia. This diagnosis shattered her parent's world.

Elsie Mae's treatment was so tough on her that she developed a fear of the hospital, a fear of nurses. Anyone even wearing blue approaching her would make her afraid. Before her diagnosis, Elsie Mae enjoyed going around the farm with her dad David, checking on all the animals. All of a sudden, when Elsie Mae became sick, the world had closed in on her, and it became just one small room.

When the Scally family came to Barretstown, it gave them a chance to see that there is something outside of treatment - that there is life outside cancer. It built up their children's confidence, and they got a glimpse of their little girl back.

This #ChildhoodCancerAwarenessMonth, we are sharing the stories of campers who have experienced the terrible hardship that cancer causes, and how our therapeutic programmes help families to rediscover the joys that childhood holds.