Junior & Mini Great North Run 2026

“My beautiful little girl had a rough few months and was back and forth to the hospital in 2023. She fell at nursery and broke her nose, we then had strep A infection, tonsillitis, flu. Her bloods weren’t right but the first time they were happy not to repeat them. Plenty of antibiotics and her nose cleared up from the bruising.

“Around a week later we noticed a lump starting to develop in her nose, it was getting bigger and we were told this was a dermoid cyst but as this was getting bigger we were told this was unlikely.

“The second time in A&E her bloods came back all over the place again, we had only taken her about her nose but she was admitted for the second time. Later that week we found out she had a blood disorder called Von Willebrands disease; this affects her blood clotting meaning she could bleed out and bruise very easily. She started getting factored a treatment which helps the blood thicken.

“A few days before Christmas Orla had an MRI and chest X-ray at our local hospital to check her lungs and nose. We found out from these that although her lungs were fine, she had a blood clot in her nose from the blood disorder and as this is where she hurt herself it was causing the bleeding.

“This was a relief as we finally knew what was going on. Later that day a doctor came to see us and mentioned the anaesthetist had noticed a lump on Orla’s side which she thought might have been her liver so we were rushed down for an emergency ultrasound. The doctor then came back in the room and asked us to go to the ‘quiet room’ our hearts dropped and the panic I was feeling was immense. She told us the heartbreaking news that no parent ever wants to hear – that our Orla had a tumour in her kidney and we were getting sent to the RVI. 

“Orla travelled by ambulance from James Cook to the RVI where she underwent more tests and scans and it was confirmed she has a Wilms tumour in her kidney. Orla went down for surgery on Christmas Eve where she had a line / port fitted and the blood clot taken out of her nose with a drain fitted. She was finally comfortable and her nose was back to normal, she looked so much happier again.

“Once she was back on the ward she had her first round of chemo straight away ready to fight this. Orla has had every side effect possible from the chemo…sickness, exhaustion, loss of appetite, hair loss, rash, liver and tummy swelling, low blood cells needing blood and platelet transfusions then antibiotics in place of the low white blood cells, a LOT of temperatures but she’s come out still smiling and shown us how much strength she has.

“Me and her mammy have had to be strong and want to give something back and this skydive is a way for us to raise money to help the parents financially / emotionally who might be going through a tough time.

“Orla had surgery in January 2023 to remove her kidney and put a treatment plan in place once we know what we are dealing with. Following surgery we were given the best news. Her tumour was large, but is hadn’t spread anywhere! It was stage one. It was the kind of tumour they thought it was and the chemo had already killed it prior to it being took out.

“Orla only had to have four more weeks of chemotherapy plus some blood transfusions and COVID but she did it – she finished treatment. She had scans after her treatment and they were all looking fine and she’ll have scans every three months to make sure everything stays healthy.  

“On Friday 17 March Orla rang the bell to mark the end of her treatment.

“We can’t explain how much support we’ve had and we are eternally grateful, the RVI have been fantastic in helping Orla and I will forever be thanking them. Our Orla is the strongest little girl I know and she is overcoming everything that is thrown at her.”