On Saturday 26th September, Annette Symonds, Monitoring Technician from the Egham office, and two swimming friends swam in the Swim Equinox event at Thorpe Lake (very close to our old Thorpe Office!) They are raising funds for the charity ‘Aoife’s Bubbles’, which was set up to raise awareness of germ cell cancer in children. To find out more visit: https://www.aoifesbubbles.co.uk/
Annette writes: “Many of you will know that my husband’s granddaughter, Aoife, passed away aged only 3, last year, only a week after being diagnosed with germ cell cancer following several months of illness which repeated visits to the doctors failed to pick up.
A charity has been set up (Aoife’s Bubbles) in order to raise awareness of germ cell cancer, the hope being that other families are aware of the signs and children diagnosed much quicker giving them a better chance to fight this disease which, like many cancers if caught early enough, can be successfully treated. As well as raising awareness of germ cell cancer and acts of kindness to children suffering from cancer in Great Ormond Street Hospital where Aoife spent the last few days of her life, Aoife’s Bubbles has recently committed to assisting the Institute of Cancer Research to the sum of £15,000 per year into research into solid tumours in children.
I was originally signed up for the Big Welsh Swim this year before COVID-19 put a stop to most events this year. Hopefully, I will be taking part in it next year instead. In the meantime, like most charities, Aoife’s Bubbles has had fewer opportunities to raise funds due to COVID-19. So many fundraising events which were scheduled have had to be postponed or cancelled this year. In an effort to address this I gathered a team to take part in Swim Equinox (originally Swim Solstice!! until it was cancelled) on 26th September. The event entailed swimming as many laps of Thorpe Lake as possible in three hours, the last part of which will be in darkness. I’ve recently met a couple of people through open water swimming who want to help me in this endeavour. The three of us are keen to become more experienced and confident in open water and in so doing raise money for Aoife’s Bubbles.
I realise these are difficult times, but would be grateful if you could like / share posts for Aoife’s Bubbles on your preferred social media platform in order to raise awareness and if you are able to donate to our cause, there is a link provided below. Many thanks in advance for your generosity.
For those of you with children, watch out for the following symptoms:
– nausea
– bruising
– headaches
– weight loss
– constipation
– night sweats
– mood changes
– repeated infections
– vision disturbances
– nagging feeling that something is wrong
If your child has any of these symptoms and they do not go away, insist that the doctor investigates thoroughly.”
Please donate to my JustGiving Page and help ‘Aoife’s Bubbles’: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/annette-symonds-2?utm_id=1&utm_term=8a4399R4J