Help us meat Rebecca’s costs
Butchers sell pies to raise cash for brave cancer girl
The fight to save a little girl’s life continues as local businesses join a huge fundraising crusade.
Three year-old Rebecca McKenna, from Erskine, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare form of children’s cancer, in January.
Heartbroken parents Chris and Vicky McKenna are now desperately trying to raise £140,000.
These vital funds will help the tragic tot go to America for a drug trial that should help decrease the chance of relapse and the cancer returning.
Butchers’ shop Mitchell’s of Erskine is the latest business joining the efforts to Raise for Rebecca.
Owner John Mitchell told the Express helping the McKenna family’s cause was a no-brainer.
“We have been here for 30 years and we like to give back,” John said.
“A girl came into the shop and told us about Rebecca’s story last week.
“I thought we could definitely do something to help.”
For every large steak pie sold at the busy shop in the Bridgewater Shopping Centre, 50p will go to the Raise for Rebecca campaign.
“You would like to think that if something like this happened to you people would want to help,” John said.
“We will do anything we can to help little Rebecca and her family.
“They need to raise a lot of money to go to America so hopefully this will help in some way.”
Residents have rallied round to support little Rebecca, raising £44,734 on her Just Giving page in just a few weeks, with around £10,000 donated in the past 10 days alone.
Grateful for the huge amount raised so far mum Vicky said: “Thank you so much for all your help everyone. “This is truly amazing. “From everyone in the family and especially Rebecca, we want to say a big thank you and lets keep it going.”
Little Rebecca, who goes to Bright Starts nursery in Inchinnan Business Park, has to undergo an intense regime of treatment with 90 days of chemotherapy followed by surgery to remove the main tumour in her tummy and adrenal glands.
That will be followed by another round of high dose chemo, a stem cell transplant, then three weeks of radiotherapy.
Vicky said: “We set out to learn everything we could about the disease and possible treatments.
“Our search led us to an American drug trial called DFMO.
“This is a preventative treatment which helps decrease the chance of relapse and the cancer returning.
“Unfortunately, this isn’t a treatment available on the NHS yet.
“To be eligible for the trial, we need Rebecca to be cancer-free for 120 days and raise £140,000 to pay for treatment and associated costs.
“This is a huge amount to raise and we know it will not be without its difficulties, but we have to try.”
She added: “We all know someone affected by cancer, whether it’s a parent, grandparent, son or daughter.
“You would do anything you could to make them well again and we are no different.
“This isn’t the first time cancer has devastated our family and, while we know the loss and pain it can bring, we won’t let it win this time.
“We need any donation, no matter how big or small, to help get Rebecca well again and back to being the bravest little girl we know.”
In a bid to raise funds as quickly as possible a number of charity events have been planned for the coming months.
Team Raise for Rebecca will be taking part in an Erskine Bridge Walk on April 22, the Race for Life at Glasgow Green on May 20, and Tough Mudder at Drumlarig Castle on June 17.
A family friend told the Paisley Daily Express: “Rebecca is a lovely wee girl, she’s a real girly girl who loves singing, dancing and jigsaws.
“We are all devastated for Chris and Vicky and want to do everything we can to help raise this money.”
To donate to the JustGiving page, go to justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ raiseforrebecca.
For further updates on Rebecca’s journey or information on how to get involved with any of the charity events visit www. facebook. com/ RaiseforRebecca/.