Main fundraiser photo

Holly Olivia Prince and Holly’s Hearts Charity

Donation protected
Hi, my name is Mike I will be running the Manchester Marathon on the 16th April 2023, and I am raising funds for Holly’s Hearts in memory of Holly Prince.

Holly’s Hearts is a charity that creates heartwarming memories for children with cancer.

I went to school with Holly’s Dad Mark, if anything their resilience as a family is what has driven me to want to raise funds for their charity. You can read about Holly’s life with a rare condition in the paragraphs below, all of the below happened to them as a family as they have 2 other children as well as Holly, the sheer determination to continue was inspiring.
Which made me think that this is the most deserving of charities set up under the worst circumstances for the good of others.

Holly Prince was just 3 years old when she was diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic condition called Bloom Syndrome. Less than 300 people in the world are registered with it. Bloom Syndrome is characterised by unusually small size, sensitivity to sunlight, immune system deficiencies and an extraordinarily high risk for developing cancer of any type early in life.

Holly was diagnosed after 2 years of being on the 100,000 genomes project which is a project that searches the DNA for any abnormalities. Receiving the diagnosis in March 2020 was devastating for the Prince family.

There is no cure for Bloom Syndrome but with intensive cancer screening from a young age it is hoped that any cancers can be caught early and treated successfully.

Just 3 months after the diagnosis for Bloom Syndrome in June 2020, Holly went for an urgent ultrasound scan after the family had concerns and she was diagnosed with Wilm’s Tumour - a rare kidney cancer that affects young children.

Holly’s tumour was removed in August 2020, and the lab results revealed that it was a grade 2 ‘High Risk’ tumour, which meant that Holly must undergo 34 weeks of intense chemotherapy drugs to prevent the cancer from returning. The chemotherapy was tough for Holly, and each time her blood counts struggled to recover to a safe level, so just over halfway through, the doctors decided that the risks of carrying on were too high, and her treatment was stopped early. However, Holly’s end-of-treatment scans in June showed no evidence of cancer. Follow-up scans in September 2021 showed the tumour had relapsed to the site where the kidney was, and that surgery was needed to remove the tumour along with her spleen. Holly then had Proton Beam Therapy in November to that area which involved treatment every day for three weeks. Then in December routine scans had shown a third relapse, this time to the lung area. The family were told that she would have to undergo a new chemotherapy regime which she started just before Christmas, followed by surgery and more radiation.

Unfortunately, at the beginning of March 2022, scans showed that the cancer had progressed, and Holly became very poorly. She battled on for another 4 weeks but sadly passed away on the 8th of April 2022.

Now the Prince family want to honour Holly's life by setting up their own charity in her memory. After months of discussions and deliberating what Holly would want, they have decided to create Holly's Hearts ❤️ Creating heartwarming memories for children with cancer.

Its main aim is to give children gifts, experiences and respite to put a smile on their faces and create memories that they will treasure forever. At the time of writing this 6th January 2023, the set-up process has started, but it's not yet complete. We will continue to use this GoFundMe account for donations until the charity is set up with its charity bank account.

Thank you for everybody's support throughout Holly's journey, and we look forward to seeing the growth of the new charity Hollys Hearts ❤️.

You can also follow Holly's Hearts stories and progression on Facebook:

And Instagram:

Donate

Donations 

    Donate

    Organizer and beneficiary

    Mike Gregson
    Organizer
    Jennifer Prince
    Beneficiary

    Your easy, powerful, and trusted home for help

    • Easy

      Donate quickly and easily

    • Powerful

      Send help right to the people and causes you care about

    • Trusted

      Your donation is protected by the GoFundMe Giving Guarantee