Coventry couple raise £17,000 to help children undergoing cancer treatment at UHCW

The parents of a two-year-old Coventry boy who has been treated for cancer have raised more than £17,000 to help brighten up the lives of other children being cared for by University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust.

Shay Stothard was just 16 months old when he was diagnosed with cancer but, after undergoing successful chemotherapy, he has recently been given the all-clear and will ring the ‘End of Treatment Bell’ in the Paediatrics department at University Hospital, Coventry, today (17 September).

Parents Corinne Sullivan and Lewis Stothard were devastated when Shay was diagnosed with cancer in October last year.

“Life as we knew it completely changed,” said Corinne. “We spent many days and evenings apart as a family with Shay needing stays in hospital. The care he has received has been outstanding. The staff really know Shay and go out of their way to make sure he is happy.

“We wanted to make that the ward was a more vibrant, happier place for children to stay, especially those like Shay who are isolated in rooms or who see hospital as a second home during long periods of treatment.”

Over the past few months, the couple have been busy fundraising with the help of Coventry businesses, including Nat Silverwood from OneFitMama, who provides health and fitness classes for women; the team at One Wellness; and Katie Darcy from Willow Bee Wellness, who runs mum and baby yoga classes and the recently launched Tower Pilates studio.

A ‘Day for Shay’ event in August raised more than £10,000, a further donation of £4,000 came from Stepping Stones Nursery, and other donations have been made via JustGiving.

“It has just spiralled and together we have raised over £17,000,” said Corinne. “After the hardest year of our lives, we are proud to have found something so positive to take out of this situation and to be able to help other families who are also in difficult circumstances is priceless.”

Corinne and Lewis came into the hospital to deliver a stack of toys, games, arts and craft supplies and other items for the children, and £500 worth of Marks & Spencer vouchers for parents of seriously ill children to use while they are in hospital. They have also commissioned artwork for various murals to go up in the corridors, side rooms and bays on Ward 16.

Amie Mills, Health Play Specialist in the Paediatrics Department, said: “This is an amazing act of generosity. Shay has only just finished his chemotherapy, and while his parents were fundraising, he was still undergoing chemotherapy and waiting for his end of treatment scan, so for them to take their time to focus on helping other families when they were going through such a tough time themselves is remarkable.

“Donations are still coming in and we are working together to look at other ways in which the money can be spent.”

The donations are being managed through UHCW Charity.

Photo: Corinne and Lewis (centre) deliver some of the toys and games to Amie Mills, Health Play Specialist, (second from right), Hannah Armstrong, Ward 16 Manager (right), and Kate Norton, Oncology Ward Nurse (left).