Help Us Keep Maya Safe, Comfortable and at Home as She Fights Relapsed Neuroblastoma

Hi, I’m Terry, Maya’s dad.

I'm asking for your help to keep a roof over Maya's head, and save us from losing our house as we fear we are heading towards the end of her short life.

Maya is 13. She has been fighting Stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma since she was 3. She was desperately sick when she started chemotherapy but she fought. She beat the cancer, and we were blessed with almost five years in remission.

Then, in 2023, it returned. Since then, our lives have been filled with constant hospitals, treatments, scans and uncertainty. Maya has been cared for by specialist teams at The Royal Marsden, UCLH, Southampton and Great Ormond Street Hospitals.

During a CAR-T cell therapy trial last year, Maya suffered a devastating brain injury and became unresponsive for several weeks. We didn't know if she would pull through but our determined daughter beat the odds and after months in hospital she is now home again where she feels safe and happy. She has learned to speak again, but she is now profoundly disabled and dependent on us for extensive care every day.

Last month we were given the news we dreaded: her cancer has progressed again. It has spread to her liver and her bones, so once again she is facing chemotherapy, and once again we hope that it will give her a bit more time.

While Maya fights, our family is struggling to stay afloat with rising bills and the unseen costs of having a disability (travel, equipment, loss of income). And now the mortgage payments are about to go up, again. My wife, Dellanie, is an NHS nurse. She is having to reduce her working hours so she can spend more time caring for Maya and supporting me as Maya's full time carer.

Over the years we have exhausted grants, charitable donations, credit cards, and every resource available to us. And yet we're still on the edge of losing the house. It is another impossible situation sitting quietly alongside everything else.

We don’t know what will happen. We don’t know whether Maya will respond to the chemo, whether we will lose our home or whether someone might be able to help us find another way through this.

But we do know this:

Whatever happens, we will keep making Maya happy.

We will keep her comfortable.

We will give her choices where life has taken so many away.

And we will make memories with her.

Because Maya is so much more than her diagnosis.

She is a 13-year-old girl with opinions, humour, imagination, songs she wants to sing and a life she still wants to enjoy.

This fundraiser is not for Maya’s cancer treatment. The NHS is treating her.

We are asking for your help to get our family through the next 12 months — to keep a roof over Maya’s head, get her to hospital appointments, meet our household bills and give us the financial breathing space to care for her and make precious memories together.

As her dad, I want us to keep giving her that for as long as we can.

We never imagined we would have to ask strangers for help. But we cannot do this alone.

If you can donate, no matter how small, you will help us keep Maya safe, comfortable and at home.

And if you cannot donate, please share her story. Every share could help us reach someone who can make a difference.

Thank you for listening, supporting us and helping us keep fighting for Maya.

With love,

Terry Nash,

Maya’s dad