Our daughter Zara is just 14, and over the past few months her world has changed in ways none of us could ever have imagined. Since November, she has faced repeated hospital stays and countless tests, and she has now been diagnosed with severe aplastic anemia — a rare and serious condition where her bone marrow no longer produces enough blood cells.

Zara has always been a bright, social, and positive girl. She loved going to school, spending time with her friends, and taking part in the sports she enjoyed. Seeing her energy and independence replaced by long hospital stays, uncertainty, and physical limitations has been incredibly hard for her. She misses her routines, her friends and the simple joy of being an active teenager.

She will soon begin an extended period of treatment in London, beginning with Chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant. We have been advised that this process may take several months until completion. During this time Zara will be unable to return to school, with the earliest possible return being September.

As parents, we are keen to ensure Zara has every chance to stay connected to her education, her friends and try to hold onto some form of normality while she undergoes this treatment. We are hoping to raise funds to purchase a tablet or laptop so she can keep up with some of her studies from hospital and maintain a bit of independence during what will be a very difficult period.

We are also facing significant travel and accommodation costs, as we will need to stay in London for long stretches to be by her side throughout her treatment. These expenses are in additional to the almost daily trips to hospitals up to this point with costs already mounting and any support would make a meaningful difference to our family during this incredibly challenging time.

If you are able to donate — no matter how small — it would help us ensure Zara has the tools she needs to continue learning, and it would ease the financial strain of staying close to her while she receives the care she needs which would ease the some of the immense pressure that has been put on us as a family.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story, and for any support, kindness, or shares. It means more than we can express.

With gratitude,

Zara’s parents