A CHARITY set up in memory of a Bradford student who died from cancer will help fund a new therapist at a centre where she received treatment.
Ella Dawson, an artist and Bradford Grammar School student, was just 24 years old when she died in July 2021.
Ella had undergone two years of treatment - some of which took place at The Christie hospital in Manchester - for an aggressive form of blood cancer.
Now a donation from The Ella Dawson Foundation will fully fund a Band 6 nurse trained in complementary therapy in a 12-month pilot scheme at The Christie, a Principal Treatment Centre (PTC) for teenagers and young adults with cancer.
Her family - mum Jane, dad Kevin, sister Natasha and Ella’s partner Connor Gamble - launched the foundation after seeing the need for young people with cancer to access health and wellbeing support during and after their treatment.
The Christie Charity supports the work of The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, providing enhanced services over and above what the NHS is able to fund.
It is hoped the new role will help ease the often gruelling and highly medicalised journeys of the 270 young people who are treated at The Christie’s bespoke teenage and young adult unit every year.
Jane said: “When you have cancer, your life is taken over by relentless, often invasive medical treatments. There’s no question that Ella’s holistic way of living helped her greatly through two years of her cancer journey.
“It gave her a complete sense of oneness and peace in the face of some very tricky treatment.
“It helped to alleviate her nausea and fatigue and helped balance out the journey she was on by giving her a degree of power over herself and allowing her to live well despite the aggressive treatments. Ella was passionate that holistic support should become part of the standard of care pathway.
“Ella had excellent care at The Christie and everyone went above and beyond. We know she would have been proud to see a full-time therapist support that medical care. Our hope is that, if this pilot is successful, we will look to permanently fund it and expand it to other hospitals.”
Hanna Simpson, Teenage Cancer Trust lead nurse at The Christie, who helped care for Ella, said: “We’re so lucky that the Ella Dawson Foundation has chosen The Christie to be the pilot site.”
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