Simon set to have extra special Father's Day with cancer-free daughter

Mia has battled through with the help of specialists in the West Midlands to survive a rare form of blood cancer.

She was diagnosed with infantile acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in July 2017 when she was seven months old.

She was referred to Birmingham Children's Hospital to begin chemotherapy and treatment, with her having a 50 per cent survival rate due to her age.

Simon, a manufacturing operations consultant from Wolverhampton, said: "I have always been a strong, outgoing, and confident person. I wouldn’t give a second thought to jumping on a plane to travel 6,000 miles and work in countries I’ve never been to before.

"During Mia’s treatment, I was confined to a hospital and just popping out to the local shop would fill me with anxiety. There were so many difficult nights sitting next to Mia’s bed on the ward, seeing how poorly she was and hearing the other sick children. I had to tell myself to be strong, that my little girl needed me more now than ever."

The youngster spent her first birthday, Christmas and New Year receiving hospital treatment and even took her very first steps on the ward. Her parents were supported by the Ronald McDonald House charity, situated at the hospital, which offers free accommodation to families with children undergoing treatment.

Simon, 48, and his partner, Mia's mother Anjna Mahey, 43, stayed for 225 nights – keeping them as close as possible to Mia's hospital bedside – with her mother now deciding to take on a charity skydive to raise vital funds for them.

Mia was discharged from hospital treatment in March 2018 but treatment continued at home for the next 18 months, before that finished in October 2019. By March this year she was declared cancer-free, with her family hosting a range of fundraising events – including one which saw Mia complete a 25-lap training circuit of the family's back garden – for the charity.

Anjna is now preparing to take on the skydive on Father’s Day, and has already hit her target of £5,000 which will go towards sponsoring one of the rooms they stayed in during their eight-and-a-half months in hospital.

Simon added: "Ronald McDonald House Birmingham truly was our lifeline and very own ‘home away from home’. The days and nights we walked from the House to the Hospital and back again were loaded with anxiety and pain. The fear of what we would we endure as a family in that one day. The House gave us such respite and became our own sanctuary.

"The fact that I can celebrate Father’s Day with my little girl fit and well without any threat of illness or pain, means more to me than I can describe. I am so thankful to spend the day with Mia, after everything she has been through. I am really proud of Anjna for taking on the Skydive and Mia and I can’t wait to cheer her on as she makes the leap for a great cause."

To sponsor Anjna’s Skydive for Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Anjna-Mahey2