‘As bad as Covid is, cancer hasn’t stopped and isn’t going away’
Survivor who was diagnosed at 17 adds voice to funding plea as research charity faces £300m drop in income
A YOUNG cancer survivor from Co Antrim is appealing for donations to help tackle a devastating loss of research funding caused by Covid-19.
With fundraising down and lockdowns around the UK continuing to affect its shops, Lana Douglas (21) from Carrickfergus has vowed to help Cancer Research UK continue its vital mission to save lives.
Lana owes her life to research and improved treatments after being diagnosed with non-hodgkin’s lymphoma when she was just 17 and is now determined to help protect people with cancer from the heartbreaking fall-out of the pandemic.
She said: “Cancer is a really important thing to fund and as bad as Covid is, cancer hasn’t stopped and it isn’t going away.
“People don’t think of 17-yearolds getting a diagnosis like I did and while my cancer is not rare it was extremely rare for me to get it at that age.
“It’s thanks to Cancer Research UK’S work that I’ve been given more precious time and that’s down to research.”
Cancer Research UK is predicting a £300m drop in income over the next three years, which could put future breakthroughs at risk. Earlier last month, the charity was forced to slash £45m from its research budget on top of £44m of cuts to the grants at the start of the pandemic.
Lana is backing a new TV appeal by the charity which features a direct plea for donations from leading scientist, Professor Richard Gilbertson.
The film’s message is ‘To save lives tomorrow, the charity needs the public’s support today’.
Lana was studying for her A-levels at Carrickfergus Grammar School when her lung collapsed while she was in a Spanish lesson. Despite excruciating pain she struggled through the lesson before contacting her mum. Days later, on June 1, 2016 in the middle of her exams, life as she knew it changed forever as she faced a devastating cancer diagnosis.
She recalled: “I had a cough for a couple of months which wouldn’t go away and that day I took pain in school I had no idea my lung had collapsed.
“A scan picked up six tumours in my chest which were stage 4 and at the time I was more upset about missing my A-levels.
“I think your survival instincts kick in and I had a great team who talked about a cure and that helped me to stay positive.”
Her parents Davey and Colleen and brother David (23) were a huge support as she faced 15 sessions of chemotherapy followed by 15 of radiotherapy.
She had to cope with losing her hair but her positive attitude got her through. Thankfully a scan in February 2017 showed she was cancer-free. However, the treatment left her with debilitating fatigue and she was only able to sit one of three A-levels.
Today she is enjoying art and hopes to set up her own business as a freelance illustrator.
Jean Walsh, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for NI, said they are “absolutely determined to continue to create better cancer treatments for tomorrow”.
Before the pandemic, Cancer Research UK had spent over £2m in the province last year on some of the UK’S leading scientific and clinical research.