Operation: Get Lucy Home

What started out as a normal family holiday has turned into every parent’s worst nightmare.

Our 8-year-old Niece Lucy and her family travelled to Poland for what was meant to be a happy, relaxing break. After the whole family suffered from a sickness bug, they thought little of it when Lucy began feeling unwell. However, her condition quickly and dangerously deteriorated. Lucy was rushed to the hospital, where she has since received multiple blood transfusions, platelets and treatment for sepsis.

Further tests revealed extremely worrying results — a high white blood cell count, a low red blood cell count, and random bruises and spots appearing on her body. Doctors now suspect that Lucy may have leukaemia, but they need to carry out biopsies to confirm this.

Due to how weak and fragile she is, Lucy’s doctors are hesitant to put her to sleep for these procedures. They believe it’s safer for her to return home to the UK where she can receive further testing and treatment surrounded by her family and medical specialists who can provide the care she desperately needs.

Right now, Lucy is critically ill, scared, and far from home. She cannot walk and is undergoing intense treatment in a foreign hospital while her family are separated and struggling to be by her side. All they want is to bring their little girl home so she can receive the care she needs — and to be together as a family at this vital time.

Lucy’s mum had wisely taken her EHIC (European Health Insurance Card) abroad, which thankfully covers Lucy’s emergency medical treatment in Poland. However, EHIC cards do not cover repatriation costs, meaning the family must now find a way to fund Lucy’s safe medical transfer back to the UK.

Because Lucy is critically ill, she cannot travel on a normal flight — she must be brought home on a specialist air ambulance, accompanied by a full medical team to monitor and care for her throughout the journey. This is a complex and expensive operation, but it’s the safest and only way to get Lucy home.

Thankfully, Lia’s Wings, an incredible charity that helps transport critically ill children home from abroad, has offered to help bring Lucy back to the UK. They have said it will be around £27000 to get her back and have asked us to raise as much as we can towards the costs to bring Lucy home. They said they have other children around the world currently waiting but are willing to prioritise Lucy to come home this Monday as it is time-critical.

As a family, we simply don’t have the funds to do this alone. We’re doing everything we can to raise the money, but we need your help. Every donation — whether it’s £1, £2, or more — brings us one step closer to getting Lucy home safely.

Lucy’s flight home is planned for Monday, and we have just one month to raise the funds. Please, if you can, donate and share this page. Your kindness could make all the difference in reuniting this family and helping Lucy get the care she urgently needs.

Any extra funds raised will go directly to Lia’s Wings, who do not benefit financially from this appeal. They have told us there are multiple children across Europe waiting to be brought home safely, and every extra penny will help make that possible.

From the bottom of our hearts — thank you.