Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are fronting HELLO!'s Christmas appeal, raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust. As part of the campaign, the royals met young cancer patients and their family members who have been supported by Teenage Cancer Trust's specialist units, and one particular story proves just how important it is to support the charity.
WATCH: HELLO's Christmas appeal with Teenage Cancer Trust
Abigail was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was 12 years old. She's being treated in a Teenage Cancer Trust unit at UCLH and is expected to finish maintenance treatment in April 2013. She says her time in the unit helped her. "When I was moved to the Teenage Cancer Trust unit, I made friends with other young people on my bay and with my nurses and Youth Support Coordinators.
DONATE NOW
"I had Karl as one of my Youth Support Coordinators and he was great. When I was sad about losing my hair, he sat down with me and told me what to expect. He reassured me that it would grow back."
Abigail's mother Lara had her own journey. "She was showing symptoms around Christmas time," Lara said. "Maybe just before that. And we didn't know, but we knew something was not quite right. We hadn't said anything to her, and then she officially got diagnosed. I think it was like the ninth of January.
"It was quite scary, having to sort of hold it in and not show her how I felt. That was hard. We knew something was not right. Things just weren't adding up. I'd Google. Then I'd walk the dog and cry and cry, because that was the only time I could cry about it.
"You just know, I don’t know how, but mums just know. Mums just know when something isn't quite right."
SEE: Sarah Ferguson, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie launch HELLO!'s Christmas appeal
MORE: Sarah Ferguson shares moving statement about teenage cancer
Abigail and her mother Lara
Speaking of the moment she found out she had cancer, Abigail, now 13, said: "When I first got diagnosed, the first question I asked was, 'Well, is it, is it curable?' And they said, 'Yeah, it's completely curable.' And I sat there and I thought, well, I can either sit here and I can freak out and I can cry and I can panic, or I can think it's curable. And that's the most important thing.
"And I thought there's no point wasting all these tears on something that's getting better. And so, some days I saw it as just like a bad infection and something that will go away. And it will just be like, like, a bad dream, just a small chapter of my life. And then other days I wake up and I think I can't believe it. Like, I actually have leukaemia. It's a big thing and some days it's scary, but I try really, really hard to look at the positives that come out of it."
Sarah, Beatrice and Eugenie are patrons of Teenage Cancer Trust
She concluded: "It wasn’t fun at all as even my mum wasn’t allowed out. The nurses all had to dress up in Covid safety gear when they came in to see me and we couldn’t have any other visitors.
"My nurses and Youth Support Coordinators helped me and my mum get through it, and I know Teenage Cancer Trust will be there to support me over the festive season this year too.
"Please donate to the HELLO! and Teenage Cancer Trust Christmas appeal. I hope all young people like me get the support they need this Christmas, and in the future."
DONATE BY TEXT (in the UK only)
TEXT HELLO10 TO 70500 TO DONATE £10
TEXT HELLO20 TO 70500 TO DONATE £20
TEXT HELLO30 TO 70500 TO DONATE £30
Texts cost £10, £20 or £30 + one standard rate message. Always ask the bill payer's permission. Full T&Cs at teenagecancertrust.org/text. Teenage Cancer Trust may call you about how your support can help young people with cancer. To give £10, £20 or £30 without receiving further contact by phone & SMS, text HELLO10NO, HELLO20NO OR HELLO30NO to 70500.
Or donate online from anywhere in the world using the red button above.
Like this story? Sign up to our newsletter to get other stories like this delivered straight to your inbox.
