Abby’s Story
Abby was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer, in 2013 aged 8 years and 10 months.
During her fight Abby had 23 rounds of chemotherapy, 50 days of radiotherapy, stem cell harvesting, scans, cannulas, drains, intensive care stays and pioneering surgery, to remove the tumour from her clavicle and replace the missing bone with her second toe and main metatarsal from her right foot. In May 2014, Abby was officially declared in remission and spent 6 carefree months getting back to school and back to her beloved dancing.
Abby was a big spirit on the Piam Brown Ward and loved to play with all the children, especially the babies. She was the bravest child and withstood the most aggressive attempt to beat her disease. She got the nick name of "Abby the Ninja" from a group of teenagers on the ward, because she was so fearless and never moaned about the treatment. Here is Abby and two of her friends talking about their experiences on the Piam Brown Ward at Southampton General Hospital.
On Boxing Day 2014, Abby’s Cancer had returned. The disease she had, Ewing’s Sarcoma, has had no improvement in drugs or chemo or indeed outcomes since the early 1980’s and the Medical Team simply had nothing else to offer her. She smiled and laughed all the way to her final moments, but she slipped away on 29th May 2016.
Abby loved to dance and her teacher described her as “a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.” She was a joy to be around. She had seemingly unending energy and exuded a real joy for life. She touched the lives of everyone she knew - seeing the tributes flooding in after her passing, and the hundreds and hundreds of people at her funeral demonstrated perfectly how many people loved her and what a mark she made on the world during her short life.
"Abby was simply the most incredible soul, cherishing every moment of her short life, she was warm and loving. We hope the Charity we have started in her name, continues in her spirit, to comfort those who find themselves entering the paediatric oncology wards at UHS..." Sally and Dave Randall.
