Daisy's Eye Cancer Fund

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Our History

Daisy’s Eye Cancer Fund was founded in 2004, inspired by the experiences of two little girls who struggled to access the life and vision-saving care they needed.

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Our History

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Our charity is named after brave young Daisy from the English county of Devon. Daisy battled retinoblastoma for five years, and required specialized treatment at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, Canada, that was unavailable to her in the U.K.

Daisy’s parents established The Daisy Fund to raise funds for her treatment, and the family’s 16 month stay in Canada.

In September 2004, a little African girl named Gorata (Rati) was diagnosed with a recurrence of retinoblastoma following removal of her eye 19 months before. Such a recurrence is rare in developed countries, but very common in developing countries due to late diagnosis, incompltete care and poor follow-up.

An email sent out by the family was picked up by a retinoblastoma survivor in Oxford, England. Abby White began advocating for Rati and her family. Four weeks later, Rati began receiving intensive medical care in Canada.

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Daisy’s parents met the costs of transport for Rati and her mother, and contributed to the initial medical payments. At this point, Daisy's Eye Cancer Fund was established, both in England and Canada, to raise funds for Rati's medical care.

Our mission has now evolved far beyond the needs of an individual child. We aim to bring best care to all children with retinoblastoma by developing local medical care and family support programs around the world.

Our strength lies in the worldwide collaboration of health care professionals, parents and patients, scientists and others who believe all children have the right to special care and protection.

Although Rati initially responded very well to treatment in Canada, her cancer returned in January 2006 and could not be overcome. Sadly, she passed away on 21st August 2006, surrounded by her parents and three sisters.

Rati’s experience highlights the desperate need for investment in cancer care in many countries around the world. During her four short years of life, she set us a challenge to help children like her, who are dying from this entirely curable cancer.

In September 2006, we launched "Rati's Challenge" as a program within Daisy’s Eye Cancer Fund, to begin addressing the needs of families affected by retinoblastoma in Africa.

Our programs include:

awareness campaigns to promote early diagnosis and referral and prompt treatment.

best practice guidelines to achieve common standards of care;

national and global regestry development to advance knowledge and support research;

a model strategy for developing countries, empowering communities to provide sustainable, locally-administered diagnosis and treatment programs that give the best possible care to all children with retinoblastoma.

These programs will be adapted for diverse regions of the world, because no family should have to face losing a child to curable cancer, and because every child has the right to beat cancer.

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Registered charity #: 111-11-33

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