 Avian's pink tie provides practical, emotional and financial fallback to those families who need it. The support varies case by case as almost every situation is different. As a child, I have always been very sheltered to what was going on, as any child should be. My cousin was six years older than me and I wasn't even born when the illness first struck, and that's how young he was. He was living in Dublin initially, which made his trips up and down to Cromland a lot easier. He wasn't long into remission when they moved to Kildare, full of hope that this would be the end, but it wasn't. The cancer had come back and this time bone marrow was needed. When he finally got the transplant, he was once in isolation and was spending 100% of his time in a hospital bed with only the company of the doctors, the nurses and his dad. His final stint of cancer came at the age of 17. He was told that there was no hope and his family made his time left as enjoyable as possible. He loved the beach, music and every single one of his friends. He passed away within the year. His memory is as lively as he was with a festival deal stock happening every November. Charities such as avian swing tie are essential to family's need. Each year in Ireland over 200 children under the age of 19 are diagnosed with cancer. Every month, families of cancer patients spend over €300 on medical costs alone. An extra €150 per month on food and drink expenses and an extra €140 on heating and electricity bills because chemotherapy patients often feel the cold is worse than those who aren't going through treatment. Despite this, avian's pink tie receive no government funding. They are fully reliant on your support. Children are so young and so innocent. They haven't done anything wrong in this world. So the fact that some of them are put through this is so unfair. Families make their children's health their number one priority and don't have time to worry about travel expenses or where they're going to stay during this difficult time. Avian's pink tie takes care of these things for them. My daughter was diagnosed with leukemia when she was four years old. Her siblings were just six and seven. Her treatment was intensive for the first six months requiring many extended stays in hospital, chemotherapy, steroids, antibiotics and regular lumbar punctures. Operations were performed to place tubes inside her body that exited beside her big heart for instant access for blood transfusions as well as the toxic but life-saving medicine. The treatment for the following two years was the same, uncertain but less intense. I never knew when she would be admitted. She could be fine and then rapidly get a temperature requiring a minimum five-day hospital stay. This could happen at any time of the day or night. I always left a bag packed in the boot for her and myself. I also dropped her siblings off to friends in the middle of the night with their school bags and lunches when my husband was abroad for work. She liked staying in hospital once the worst of the sickness was over and would leave a note under the teacher's door if she came in during the night. I dreaded for being admitted as for me it was several days of no sleep guilt about the other kids and hospital food. We were fortunate that I could stay at home with her only getting back to part-time work at the end of her treatment. Many parents work from a laptop at a hospital bed in the quiet of the night. The car learns to drive itself to and from the many appointments. The coins always set aside for the parking fees. Other kids in the family get neglected from the small things. Homework, dentists, sleepovers. The family home becomes a refuge of keeping infection out but becomes very untidy within as time is short for housekeeping. Love has to be enough in a family crisis. Be sure to tune into the DCU TV 24-hour broadcast all on 8 of Avian's Pink Tie on the 30th of November.