The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Schoolgirl celebrates five years cancer-free
Mini-festival in her neighbourhood raises almost £600 for cancer charity
A Cupar schoolgirl has celebrated five years of being cancer-free.
Summer Wroniecki, 9, who was diagnosed with a rare form of the disease when she was only three, was star of the show at Party in the Park in the housing estate where she lives.
The mini-festival in the Drum also raised almost £600 for the Tayside Children with Cancer and Leukaemia (TCCL) Lodge, adding to the £110,000 her family and supporters have collected for cancer charities since her diagnosis in 2011.
Summer, a pupil at Castlehill Primary School, is making the most of life having recovered from both her illness and a freak accident in 2015.
She was thrown from a giant inflatable ripped from its moorings by a strong gust of wind at Cupar Children’s Gala.
The injuries she suffered set back her recovery from a major hip operation, which had been part of her battle against cancer.
But mum Karen said: “She’s very well now. Her hip has been damaged by the radiotherapy but it doesn’t stop her swimming or dancing.”
Summer and her friends made posters and invitations were posted through letterboxes inviting neighbours to the shindig.
Karen said: “TCCL were the first people to help us at the very beginning when Summer was diagnosed, so we wanted to raise money for them.
“We didn’t want it to be just a celebration of five years cancer-free.
“We have been to the lodge, it’s lovely, and we need to keep it going so other people can get the benefit of it.”
A long list of fundraisers has been held in Summer’s name, including a Mount Kilimanjaro climb by dad Chris and some friends and a hike along the Great Wall of China.
Summer’s parents learned she had rhabdomysarcoma the day after her third birthday.
The tumour was removed and the youngster underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
She had only just stopped using crutches following her hip operation when the inflatable accident happened in June 2015.
Summer was thrown into a nearby fairground ride, suffering a fractured femur and cuts and bruises and dislodging a plate fitted in her hip.