A lasting legacy - money raised to support brave Sarah's cancer battle to now help other children with disease

The words of loving father Ray Dowson whose daughter Sarah Dowson sadly passed away at the age of 30 from sepsis after battling a childhood cancer which led to her having her leg amputated.

The family have decided that the £10,000 raised to support Sarah in her battle is now going to be donated to the cancer charity Young Lives vs Cancer to help other young people and children battling the disease, leaving a “lasting legacy in Sarah’s name”.

Sarah, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 30, developed Osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer, in 1997 and ended up having to have part of her left leg amputated.

Ray, who lives in Peterlee, said: “Sarah had the lower part of her left leg removed below the knee. They then reattached the lower part of her leg at the ankle joint to provide an attachment point for a prosthetic leg.”

Sarah then had to undergo a gruelling period of chemotherapy with a range of fundraising events taking place and support from SAFC and Black Cats Legends Niall Quinn and Kevin Phillips to help raise money to provide Sarah with the most advanced prosthetic leg and to cover the costs of the family visiting a specialist in Dorset.

Fortunately the chemotherapy worked and Sarah was able to live cancer free for a number of years. She did have a set back in 2018 when a fall damaged the prosthetic attachment point meaning this part of her leg had to be amputated and a new attachment point was created above the knee.

The operation meant a new prosthetic leg had to be found and further fundraising took place to help Sarah to get the best possible artificial limb.

Ray said: “The cost of a good prosthetic is around £50,000 and you will inevitably wear through more than one. We donated the prosthetic Sarah had used to another child whose family couldn’t afford to buy one.

“I did also sorts of fundraisers down the years to raise money to support Sarah, including jumping out of a plane twice.”

Despite the set back, Sarah remained cancer free, but tragedy struck in 2020.

Raymond said: “Sarah had gone into hospital for a potassium infusion, but unfortunately developed sepsis and passed away.

“Whilst the cancer didn’t kill her, doctors said all the chemotherapy she had received had damaged her heart which contributed to her not being able to fight off the infection.”

Money raised down the years had been used to cover transport and accommodation costs of the family travelling to Dorset to see Sarah’s specialist as well as purchasing prosthetic legs, although the NHS did eventually provide some funding.

Following Sarah’s sad passing her devastated family were left with £10,000 of money which had been raised to support Sarah’s cause.

Ray and his wife Janet have decided to donate the money to the children’s cancer charity Young Lives vs Cancer, a charity close to their hearts and one which Sarah “would have wanted us to support”.

The charity has earmarked the money to be used to complete the renovation of a family flat attached to the Newcastle RVI.

Raymond said: “The flat will enable families with children who are ill to be able to stay overnight and to be close by to their children.

“When Sarah was ill and in hospital for months, having a place to stay with her siblings was really important - it enables you to try and keep life as normal as possible.

“What we went through was horrendous and it was charities like Young Lives vs Cancer that helped us to get through it.

“It’s the little things like providing respite breaks for all the family to enjoy.”

Ray said some of the money will also be used to provide a counselling service for families with children diagnosed with cancer.

He said: “We had a counsellor to support us us. She helped us so much and I don’t know how I would have go through it without her.

“Knowing this money is going to support other families and children with cancer is a real lasting legacy to remember Sarah by.”

Young Lives vs Cancer helps “families find the strength to face everything cancer throws at them”.