Jávea survivor donates raffle funds to baby Olaya and cancer care

A JÁVEA mum who campaigned for younger women with a family history of breast cancer to be given routine mammograms ran a charity raffle at Christmas and gave half the proceeds to the town's famous 'butterfly baby', Olaya.

María Ferrer Miralles donated 50% of the cash she raised through her prize draw to Dénia Hospital for its breast cancer unit.

The remainder has been donated to the parents of 17month-old Olaya's parents, Ismael and Laura.

Olaya has brittle bone disease and was born with a fractured femur, suffering two further broken bones in her first fortnight of life.

She travels regularly to Getafe in the Greater Madrid region for collagen treatment, and has needed thousands of euros' worth of specialist equipment since birth. But the local community – Spaniards and expats alike – have rallied round, organising social events and raffles to raise funds for her.

María Ferrer is the latest to do so, adding to her list of valuable causes – which has included handing in a petition with 200,000 signatures to the regional government calling for them to screen women aged 30 and over for breast cancer.

Having lost her own mother to the illness at a very young age, María, concerned, paid for a mammogram at a private clinic when she was 41, given that routine bi-annual screening is only given to women aged 45 to 65.

It was here that she was diagnosed with breast cancer herself, and the terrifying realisation of what would have happened if she had waited until her first routine mammogram at age 45 led her to push for changes that are likely, in the future, to save women's lives in the region.