For seven year old Deanna Marsden, life will never be quite the same again.
A week before Christmas last year, Deanna was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer that has now resulted in the amputation of her right leg.
Since January, she has been living in Christchurch receiving chemotherapy, and just after Easter she received the operation that saw the removal of her leg from the upper thigh, where a large tumour was located.
While her parents Adam and DJ have been alternating their time with Deanna to continue caring for her three sisters still in Nelson, they have recently both been with their daughter for the operation and post-operation support.
Her diagnosis was due to an accident she had whilst playing with friends at the church the Stoke family attends, St Stephens Community Church, as what appeared to be a normal fall caused Deanna a huge amount of pain.
St Stephens has gotten behind Deanna 100 per cent, organising an event to fundraise for a prosthetic. “Deanna has always been a really active kid. On the day she was diagnosed she was running, that’s when she fell over and hurt herself, and that’s how they discovered that she had the cancer. Our hope is that we can get her a sport prosthetic. She gets a normal one from the hospital board anyway, but we would like her to get a reinforced sports one so she’s got a bit more bounce and she’ll be able to run again. That is the ultimate hope,” says church member Kirsty Tough.
The prosthetic will cost $7000 dollars but the church hopes to raise $10,000 in order to help out with the families ongoing costs. Although the operation has been completed, Deanna still needs to continue chemotherapy for a further six months or more.
The church will be hosting Shave Off 4 Kick Off Carnival on Saturday May 16, from 10am until 2pm, and along with your usual carnival activities, there will be ten people shaving their heads to raise funds for Deanna. Tahunanui businesses are also doing their bit to support Deanna, donating a huge number of items to the silent auction. St Stephens invites everyone to come along and support Deanna’s cause, or people can donate to her Give-a-Little page – deannamarsdensupport2014, or the church fund set up for her – 03 0703 0345232 25, with the reference – Deanna.
