You may already be aware that nearly 3 years ago I lost my daughter to a rare and incurable brain tumour known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), Abbie was just 6 year’s old.
DIPG affects 40 children a year in the UK and unfortunately the result is the same for all of them. To be told that your child has cancer is the worst news any parent could hear, to be told that she was going to die was truly devastating.
Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon, and in 1962, 52-years ago he too lost a daughter to DIPG, the treatment both girls received was the same, how can this be allowed to continue.
After realizing how children’s brain tumour research and especially DIPG is so woefully underfunded Amanda and myself felt compelled to do something about it and Abbie’s Army was formed. In the 2-1/2 years since Abbie’s Death we have raised almost £300,000.
Abbie’s Army works closely with leading UK researchers at ‘The Institute of Cancer Research’ in Sutton and we are members of the DIPG collaborative. 100% of the money we raise goes to researching DIPG and in the past 12 months a breakthrough has been found, great news but we have so much more to do.
Currently DIPG is a death sentence, it may be too late for Abbie, but we can make a real difference to the DIPG children of the future.
As part of our fundraising this year on Sunday I am taking part in a challenging 70-mile bike ride from Crystal Palace to Hastings, there will be over 170 people taking part and between us we are hoping to raise over £10K, if you would like to make a sponsorship donation you can do so by clicking on the following link; https://www.justgiving.com/tour2cure/ or by visiting our web site at www.abbiesarmy.co.uk and using the donate now button, the web site contains lots of additional information and I have also attached one of our supporting fliers.
Many thanks for taking the time to read my message, every donation, no matter how small, can make a significant difference and is sincerely appreciated.
Ray Mifsud
