Brave Robyn Smyth (13) has been fighting a terrible disease for 10-years.The Smyth Family need to raise €300,000 to save their daughter's life
A Mum, whose daughter has been fighting for 10-years to stay alive, has revealed she is finding it “impossible” to raise the necessary funds to continue with her vital medical treatment in the US.
Thirteen-year-old Robyn Smyth, from Whitehall in Dublin, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at age of three, a very aggressive form of cancer.
Given just a 30% chance of surviving when she was first diagnosed, the brave teen has defied the odds to still be fighting the horrific disease today.
When Dublin Doctors dropped her chances of survival to just 5%, three years ago, Robyn's Mother Bernadette and her family decided to fundraise to take her to US-based Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Michigan.
Since then, Robyn's family and friends have worked tirelessly to raise several hundred thousand euro to cover steep medical costs as they arise.
However, Robyn's mother has revealed she cannot do any more for her daughter without more funds - despite the teenager having two good scans in the US over the past several months.
The costs currently facing the family is a daunting €300,000 upfront bill for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.
And they face an uphill battle to raise the money in time.
An emotional Bernadette told breaking news.ie: “I really don’t know what else to do. I’m so so afraid I’m going to lose her. We have done so much different types of fundraising over the years which has been amazing.
“We have gotten so far but I have hit a brick wall with funding and it’s really taring me apart every which way.
''Im really struggling. I’m ashamed to say it but I don’t know what else to do. Our life has been nothing else but hospital trips, medical treatment, flying to the US. I honestly can’t remember what normal life is like anymore.''
She added that if Robyn relapses now, there is nothing she can do:
''The problem we have is keeping her scans clear for long enough to be accepted on to a new medical trial in New York which is hugely expensive.
“If we don’t get the money together soon then Robyn will lose her place on the trial. It’s as simple as that. All the efforts from the medics in Michigan to keep her alive and to get her to the stage of getting her onto the New York trial will be in vain,'' she said.
In order to raise funds for their daughter, the family has set up two points of contact, the first being an email address at [email protected].
And the second being a donation point, or www.idonate.ie/robynslife. If you wish to make a donation, you can do so HERE.
