Walk event in memory of ‘little warrior’ Tommy
AWALKING event in memory of a brave ‘little warrior’ who passed away from leukaemia and a musician going through treatment for leukaemia takes place this weekend. Four-year-old Tommy Squibbs, from Whitworth, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia last September. He bravely battled through his illness until he sadly passed away last Saturday at Derian House Children’s Hospice.
The ‘Walk of Light’ event today (Saturday, March 30) at Marl Pits in Rawtenstall has been organised by Rachel Shatliff, who runs East Lancashire DS Group (ELDSSG), to honour Tommy’s memory and raise money for blood cancer.
Tommy’s dad, Dan Squibbs, said: “Tommy was very smiley and he lit up the room.
“He was happy all the time and there was always high fives and fist bumps for all.
“We called him a little warrior because he had a high tolerance for pain.
“He never showed his pain even until the very end.
“It is lovely to see everyone supporting us.”
Tommy had four rounds of chemotherapy but by the fourth round doctors knew it would not work due to a gene mutation he had.
The Tonacliffe School pupil and his dad, along with his mum, Charlotte, made precious memories together and had adventures at Blackpool Zoo and Knowsley Safari Park before he passed away.
Tommy lived life to the fullest and he was even featured on Cbeebies bedtime stories with Justin Fletcher and Dodge for a special Christmas episode.
Tommy was also invited to feature on Baby Club a few years ago.
The event is also to show support for Rachel’s friend of more than 40 years, Lizzie Spear, who was diagnosed with leukaemia in March 2021.
Doctors could not find a match for Lizzie for her stem cell transplant so her now 24-year-old daughter, Lowri, became her donor and the surgery was carried out in September 2021.
Lizzie was given the all-clear in September last year but in November the leukaemia had returned.
Lizzie, 55, will be the first person to receive CAR-T therapy at Nottingham City Hospital, on April 10.
According to Cancer Research UK, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a type of blood cancer that starts from white blood cells called lymphocytes in the bone marrow.
Adults and children can get it but it is most often diagnosed in younger people.
Lizzie, who is a musician, said: “It is completely overwhelming to receive support. It means the world to me that people are coming out to do the walk.
“It helps to also raise awareness. I don’t think people understand what leukaemia is and the variations of it.”
Lizzie, who lives in Staffordshire, will be organising her own walk.
Visitors who join the walk in Rawtenstall are welcome to walk as much as they would like.
The ‘Walk of Light’ event will start at 6.30pm.
There will be donation buckets as well as QR codes to scan to donate.
The target is to raise £1,000 and more than £500 has been raised so far.
Guests will be wearing items with lights on them or they will carry a lantern.
Rachel said: “It is fantastic to see communities come together and show support for people who they haven’t even met who are going through this horrible disease. We hope the money can be used for research.”
East Lancashire DS Group meet regularly, run family weekends, provide speech and language support, train schools, help train new midwives, all of which are related to Down’s Syndrome.
To find out more you can search East Lancashire DS Group on Facebook.
To donate to the fundraiser visit ‘Rachel is walking for Tommy and Lizzie’ on Blood Cancer UK’S website.