A fourteen-year-old girl called Kira Noble from Edinburgh, Scotland has raised £340,000 (about $460,000) for surgery to remove her neuroblastoma tumour, reports The Daily Record.
Kira was first diagnosed with neuroblastoma in 2014, and since then has battled the cancer three times. A neuroblastoma is a tumour that develops from nerve cells called neuroblasts that are involved in development in the womb. The cancer usually affects babies and children, and around 100 children in the UK are affected each year. Neuroblastomas usually grow along the spine or in the adrenal glands, and from there can spread to other organs such as bone, liver, skin, lymph nodes, and bone marrow. The disease is typically treated using surgery to remove the cancer, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, stem cell transplants, and immunotherapies.
Kira underwent surgery in January 2018, but unfortunately, the doctors were unable to completely remove the tumour. After learning about a surgeon at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York that specialises in hard-to-remove tumours, Kira and her family decided to try to fundraise £340,000 to cover the cost of the trip and procedure. Her mum asked people to donate to their campaign, saying
“Childhood and teenage cancer doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t care who it targets, and it just happens to be Kira who’s had this monster of a disease three times.”
Thanks to the support of their friends, family, and the public, Kira has successfully reached her fundraising target. She says,
“It has always been a dream of mine to visit New York. Never ever did I imagine that I would have a debut visit to this city for life-saving surgery, but it doesn’t get much more special than getting my life back.”
