Birthday present that will help families in battle against child illnesses (From Daily Echo)

Birthday present that will help families in battle against child illnesses

2:10pm Monday 5th April 2010 in News By Simon Carr, Eastleigh Chief Reporter

IT should have been the happiest of occasions.

Hannah should have been able to open her 16th birthday present and Sophie should have been there to give it to her.

But the two girls – who became best friends as they battled cancer in hospital – never got the chance as their lives were cut short by terminal illnesses and they died within months of each other.

However, their friendship lives on through the charities their parents have set up in their memories which have raised hundreds of thousands to help Hampshire families with sick children.

To mark what would have been Hannah Westbrook’s 16th birthday the family of Sophie Barringer donated a Nintendo Wii console with games and accessories to Hannah’s Holiday Home, in the New Forest, on behalf of Eastleigh-based Sophie’s Appeal.

It is hoped this birthday present will be enjoyed by all the guests who stay at Hannah’s Holiday Home.

Hannah was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and treated at Southampton General Hospital. Despite her gruelling treatment regime she raised more than £10,000 for the Piam Brown children’s cancer ward with help from friends and family before she died in September 2004 aged ten.

Since her death Hannah’s Holiday Home has raised more than £100,000 to buy the New Forest house and pay towards its running costs.

It was while she was receiving treatment that she met Sophie, but she died of Wilm’s disease kidney cancer aged six in December 2004.

Sophie’s Appeal has raised more than £200,000 and set up a dedicated children’s assessment area which sees up to 400 children a month, sponsors holidays for terminally-ill children and funds research into cancer and future treatments at Southampton and London hospitals.

The charity also sponsors 12 families a year to have a break at Hannah’s Holiday Home.

Hannah’s mother Pam, said: “We opened the holiday home in Hannah’s memory, with the aim of providing quality time for families to enjoy together away from the stresses and strains of hospital life. Putting smiles back on their faces is priceless.”