A host of kind-hearted Angus fundraisers have teamed up to help a young girl suffering from a “heartbreaking” rare form of cancer.
Kirriemuir five-year-old Lucy Wright was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in January and her parents, James and Emma, have been given a great deal of support since.
A car wash at the fire station on Saturday, cake and sweet sales at a dental surgery and a bouncy castle contributed towards a pot to help pay for future treatment.
Raising more than £5,000 on its own, Kirriemuir Dental Practice had a specially-made cake, and Lucy’s classmate Luke Mallinson helped the firemen out with their efforts.
Aisling Hanly of the practice said: “We are all so pleased to have raised such a large sum of money.”
A band night on October 11 and other events have also been organised as the people of Kirrie, Forfar and the surrounding communities rallied round the girl, who has just started school.
A group of young women who teach children’s activities at Lochside Leisure Centre in Forfar have put together a rocking good time for people to show their support.
Instructor Tracey Logan is one of the ladies who run Gymteds, which helps get pre-school children and their parents a little more active.
Ms Logan said her colleagues loved working with Lucy, who she described as extroverted and a “lovely wee thing”.
“She used to sing to us every day when she came in, or had something to tell you,” she said.
“She always spoke about her sister Sophie, she would stop everybody. But then I’d gone off on maternity leave.
“A couple of the other girls said she didn’t look well, and she wasn’t herself, and all of a sudden she didn’t come back. After about three weeks it turned out she had an aggressive case of childhood cancer.”
Ms Logan said Lucy’s condition is “heartbreaking as a parent.”
At times before her diagnosis, Lucy could not walk and had severe stomach pains which made her sick. Scans taken at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh revealed a large mass in her stomach.
Further tests found a tumour that covered half her side and this had spread extensively to her bones and bone marrow.