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Fundraising dad's £18,000 thank you
A LOVING dad has helped raise £18,000 for the hospital unit that cared for his baby daughter as she battled a rare cancer.
Little Katy Batty endured nine doses of chemotherapy and a major operation after being diagnosed with cancer of the bladder when she was just four-months old.
Two years on she is making a good recovery after spending eight months in hospital.
Her fundraising dad, Chris, 37, is now set to hand over 18,600 on Monday to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, to say thank you for the care his daughter received.
He completed a gruelling 190-mile coast-to-coast walk on his own with his fundraising exploits backed by his bosses and colleagues at Teesside Power Station, in Redcar.
Chris, of Hesleden Road, Blackhall, said: "The RVI did a great job and I felt I had to do give something back.
"The power station has a chosen charity each year and because of my little girl they chose the RVI.
"I raised nearly 6,000 with the walk and there were a few charity nights that raised 3,000. Then the company doubled it which I am very thankful for."
The walk in May took Chris 11-and-a-half days and he backpacked all the way, with friends joining him for certain stretches of the route.
Chris added: "It was tough because I kept thinking 'I've still got however many days to go', but it was worth it.
"I was really lucky with the weather as well. It was one of the hottest weeks May has had."
Kate was born at the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, by Caesarean section on April 2, 2008.
But when she was four-months-old, her mum Lisa, 37, a biomedical scientist at the University Hospital of Hartlepool, took her to see medics after she struggled to pass urine.
She was eventually diagnosed with a rare condition called rhabdomyosarcoma, which accounts for only five to eight per cent of all childhood cancers and even less in babies.
She then underwent a five-hour operation at Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, to have the tumour removed.
Kate still goes to the RVI once every eight weeks for x-rays and Great Ormond Street every three months for check-ups to make sure the cancer has not returned.
Chris, who is also dad to Millie, nine, and Alfie, three, added: "She is really active and loves football, and is quite good at it.
"Hopefully she can get the all clear soon and she can carry on being a normal little girl."
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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