A mum-of-six was given just a day to live after being diagnosed with leukaemia. Carrie Dodds-Hallan was given the devastating diagnosis of Myeloid Leukaemia in June when she was expecting her youngest child, Poppy-May Leia Hallan.
On June 26, concerned medics told Carrie the news, but despite this, the brave mum gave birth to her little girl at 33 weeks, and four days later she tied the knot to her partner Shaun. Since giving birth she has been undergoing tests and is getting ready to commence another phase of chemotherapy.
In the face of adversity, she said she is "tired, sore but ready to get in and have her chemotherapy, and fight, fight, fight", according to childhood friend Ben Gayton, who is raising money to help her family. He has vowed to raise money for the family to enjoy Christmas despite the arduous challenges that they face, Lancs Live reports.
He said that doctors said the mild chemo Carrie had been undergoing during her pregnancy had not worked, and she was now set to start chemotherapy at Blackpool Victoria Hospital. “Poppy came out really poorly, and Carrie was on a mild chemo, but I was made up when I saw them come home. Carrie calls her her ‘mini lioness'.
“Carrie has just said she’s tired, sore but ready to get in and have her chemotherapy and fight, fight, fight. It’s just such an urgent story, as because of her illness, they’ve had to use all the money and cancel Christmas to put her health first. When I saw that, I thought Carrie and those kids and Shaun deserve every moment of happiness they will get. I will walk from Blackpool to Manchester hospital to help them.
“I just want the community to come together. I understand that everything is going up. If everyone in this town put one pound in or 50p; this is a non-profitable walk and every little penny goes to Carrie and those kids, whether it's £10 or 100 grand, it’s not profitable."
Carrie told LancsLive in August: "It had attacked my body so quickly. My white blood cells were at 198, so I had to have chemotherapy and a blood wash. Once I had that, [the doctor] said I could have a future and that's when I started to pick up.”
The 46-mile sponsored walk in aid of Christmas money for Carrie’s children will take place on Saturday, December 10, and will go from Blackpool Victoria Hospital to Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
Ben said the walk was in order to help her children, adding that "no child should go without at Christmas". He said: “I've been in contact with Carrie to see what her wishes were and it was to have the perfect Christmas due to her ill health.
"Carrie is currently in ill health with cancer at Blackpool hospital and soon to be moved to Manchester hospital, so I thought because of the challenges she is going through we should do our bit.
“I’ll be walking from Blackpool Victoria to Manchester hospital to raise as much money as I can so we can give Carrie, her husband and children a Christmas to remember - we can do it. Please support me and help in any way, thank you.
“I would like to thank all the sponsors including Liam King, of King Custom Performance, the Blackpool Bible, Jordan Dean of Central Tattoos, Wayne Waring of Alpha Car Collections & Recovery and Rob Schofield, RPE Personal Trainer. This is to give the gift of Christmas to Carrie and her family; I’ve called the team Christmas wishes and dreams and I won’t dress up as Santa until the last mile.
"It’s probably one of the biggest challenges I've ever done in my life. Am I ready for it? 100 percent." To view Ben's fundraiser to help Carrie Dodds-Hallan and her family, and to contribute, click here.
