Aunty surpasses £2K target for charity as thanks for niece’s cancer care

REBECCA Kudryk has surpassed her fundraising target of £2,000 thanks to support from the public, friends, and family.  

Five-year-old Neiva Kudryk, who is being treated for Osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, attended the Sheffield 10K on Sunday 24 September to cheer on her Aunty Rebecca.

Neiva and her family, from Sheffield, received the devastating news that she had cancer in April 2023.

Ahead of the race on Sunday, Neiva and her family gathered in the Peace Gardens, where Neiva and Rebecca were featured on TV and photos were taken.

Neiva requires multi-drug chemotherapy to improve her chances of being cured of cancer. With long stays in the hospital to help manage the side effects of treatment, Neiva also underwent a 12-hour operation at Birmingham Children’s Hospital to save her right arm where the tumour was located, where a small bone from her leg was used as a replacement bone.

Rebecca said:

“Neiva takes every single thing she’s going through in her stride. She always has a smile on her face and inspires her whole family to smile and keep going as well.

“I was very nervous to walk into Ward 6 for the first time. You have a perception that the ward would be full of sadness, but the hospital makes it a home from home. The staff are so kind and so personable. I wanted to do something positive that expresses our thanks to the ward – I’d thank each and every staff member if I could!

“Thank you to every single person who shared kind words of encouragement, and well wishes and donated to this amazing charity.”

The Children’s Hospital Charity works to ensure Sheffield Children’s has what it wants, when needed, to ensure the best possible care for patients. In 2022, the Charity raised £2.75million towards the new ward. It’s bigger and brighter, with improved spaces for parents to stay with their children and a dedicated playroom and schoolroom at its heart.

Neiva’s Dad, Sam, said:

“I want to say thank you to all those who have donated, we are genuinely touched by the generosity of not only friends and family but the public.

“I’d never understood just what chemotherapy entails for children and their families. Parents and their beautiful children will go through years of battles to hold cancer at bay. It’s the countless blood tests, transfusions, medication, and all the effects that come with it that make it the most difficult, but amongst this, the care and support of passionate staff as well as the brilliant facilities at Sheffield Children’s really do make a difference.

“On behalf of the whole family, and especially Neiva, we want to say a huge thank you to Sheffield Children’s, the Charity and those that have supported us.”

There’s still time to donate, please visit: tchc.org.uk/neiva.