Horsham family in campaign to help save lives of children stricken by cancer

The Martin family have been inspired by their daughter Issy who was hailed two years ago as one of Britain’s ‘most remarkable people’ after undergoing gruelling cancer treatment.

Issy, 16, a student at Horsham’s Bohunt School, launched a fundraising charity – Issy’s Silver Linings – and has raised tens of thousands of pounds for Royal Marsden Cancer Charity since her diagnosis with a rare leukaemia in 2019.

Issy’s Silver Linings will be now be hosting a stem cell drive-through event at Bohunt School on Sunday September 17 from 9am-2pm.

Issy’s mum Annie said: “The Swab to Save a Child Campaign was initiated by a fellow Royal Marsden Hospital mum with DKMS, the UK’s largest stem cell register, and she recruited me and 10 other mums to join her at various locations around the UK. I will be hosting Horsham and there is another local mum hosting in Crawley.”

She is appealing for people to go along to the car park at Bohunt Horsham on September 17 where there will be a drive through Swab to Save a Child station enabling anyone between the ages of 17-55 to collect a swab kit, fill in a quick online form, and have their cheek swabbed.

“Give us 15 minutes of your time and you could well give a child back the rest of their life … that’s such a little amount of time to give when you consider that time is the only thing these kids want,” said Annie.

She says that too many children are not finding their match and only three per cent of the UK population is currently on the national register. “Two thousand people will be searching for a match this year and only 25 per cent will find it the way we did – via a sibling. The other 75 per cent need an unrelated donor.”

Issy’s Silver Linings very own superhero donor will be at the event – 12-year-old Tilly. “She’s given her cells to her big sister Issy. Twice. And not the easy way either… and she’d do it all again if she was asked,” said Annie. “Join her and save a life.”

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The whole family - Issy’s dad Antony and her other sister Evie, say that Issy is “an inspiration to our family and community with her courage, positivity and determination to crack on with life. From a very young age Issy has managed to find silver linings where most only see clouds."