Brave Charlotte now a charity ambassador
WHEN Charlotte Jennings was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer at the age of just 11 she says she was not scared or upset – she just knew she had to get on with it.
Now 15 Charlotte, from Gatley, is using her incredible and inspiring experiences of battling the deadly disease to help others by becoming an ambassador for Kisdscan, the children’s cancer charity.
Despite undergoing a gruelling treatment programme to tackle the leukaemia that had taken over her body, which has left her with a number of ongoing health problems, Charlotte has remained positive and is determined to keep fighting.
Talking about her diagnosis she said: “I didn’t feel sad or scared at the time. My dad asked me if I knew what it was and I said I did because I had seen it on Casualty. Then he asked me if I was ok with it and I said no, I’m not ok with it, but I knew we were just going to have to deal with it.”
Charlotte, who lives with her dad Paul, mum Lynne and brother Michael, underwent a four-and-a-half month course of chemotherapy and she reacted so badly to the drugs that she was confined to the hospital ward for the entire time.
She was then allowed home for just three weeks before returning to the hospital for six weeks to undergo a bone marrow transplant.
“The treatment was really bad,” Charlotte said. “I weird thing was that beforehand I wasn’t really that ill – I’d had a few nosebleeds but I felt fine in myself. When I started the treatment I got a really bad rash and I had abscesses on my body. It was a really hard time.”
And sadly, even when the leukaemia went into remission, Charlotte’s battle was not over, as she then had to have treatment to counteract the side effects of the chemotherapy.
“That made me really ill,” she said. “My dad said I looked like the man on the moon. I have been left with some problems with my knees and ankles and I will have to have treatment for that when I am a bit older and I have stopped growing.”
During her treatment she captured the hearts of many a local celebrity, from Coronation Street stars to Wayne Rooney. A massive Manchester United fan, when all her hair fell out some of the players signed her head.
Charlotte, who attends Kingsway School, was inspired to become and ambassador for Kidscan by a friend she made on the ward at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, who sadly passed away earlier this year.
“After the funeral her mum and dad organised a day with Kidscan for a few of us to go down and see the amazing work they are doing,” she added. “The way they are finding new treatments all the time is amazing. Just in the past five years it has come on so much.”
She says she has remained positive by focusing on helping others, rather than on how ill she has been and has raised an amazing £18,000 for the hospital ward that was her home for so long.
“For my 13th and 14th birthdays I asked people to donate to the hospital instead of presents,” Charlotte said. “I am hoping to do the same thing for my 16th in April, but to raise money for Kidscan.”
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and as part of efforts to raise awareness gold ribbons have been placed all over Gatley in a ‘Glow Gold September’ campaign co-ordinated through Facebook.
For more information visit kidscan.org.uk.