‘We don’t want to waste a minute with our little girl’
RARE CONDITION MEANS ALANA UNLIKELY TO REACH HER 20S
A MOTHER has organised a fundraising day and raffle in another appeal to raise money for her sevenyear-old daughter who doctors say won’t live to see her twenties.
Alana Daykin, from Stanley, Derbyshire, was born at the Queen’s Medical Centre with a rare genetic condition called Börjeson-Forssman-Lehman Syndrome which kept her in and out of hospital for the first two years of her life.
Her mother, Megan Magee, 32, is now continuing to raise money to make memories with her daughter and “not waste a minute”.
The money will be primarily used to fund a trip to Florida, where Alana could swim with dolphins.
The event will take place on April 27 at the White Lion in Sandiacre and will see families enjoying bouncy castles, glitter tattoos, an ice cream van and a burger van.
Megan said: “As a child, Alana is the happiest little thing you’ll ever meet.
“She’s very affectionate and she loves people. She would give hugs and hold hands every day if she could and everyone that meets her says she’s left an impression.
“She just makes a fuss of you in her own way and makes you feel quite special.”
Megan added how “amazing” it has been to see so many people show “a genuine interest in Alana” after raising more than £3,000 out of her £10,000 Florida goal through a GoFundMe page.
Alana has amassed over 1,000 followers on Facebook, with people “really enjoying seeing her personality”. This Country star Daisy May Cooper’s dad – Paul Cooper – has also been in constant touch with the family.
Megan, who is a big fan of This Country, said: “Paul donated to our fundraiser and he’s been sharing everything for us. He even said he’s gonna get us a signed T-shirt from Daisy.
“It was a bit of a shock because we love the programme so much, but it’s been so lovely to see how he’s been trying to help us get Alana’s story out there.”
Megan and her partner, John Daykin, have been trying “to keep positive” throughout the journey.
She said: “We try to focus on the fundraising because the second we’ve got too long to ourselves, we’re obviously thinking about the horrible side of it.
“We try not to let that dictate everything and just want to make sure that we don’t waste a minute.”
Pupils at the school where Alana’s twin siblings go have also helped raise £512 by doing a sponsored skip. The 86 pupils and staff at St Andrew’s C of E Primary School in Stanley did over 7,000 skips, resulting in the biggest sum the school has ever fundraised.
Megan said: “The school has been so supportive and the head teacher, Mrs Stanley-Wainwright, has been amazing.
“We told the school we’re going to take the kids out of school because we need to do stuff to make memories and they’re just absolutely wonderful and really supportive of it. We really appreciate their help.”
We try to focus on the fundraising because the second we’ve got too long to ourselves we’re obviously thinking about the horrible side of it