A team of fundraisers have walked the same distance as the Great Wall of China to raise funds for Rosemere Cancer Foundation.

Amy’s Army helped fund new equipment that will benefit cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy at Rosemere Cancer Centre.

The centre’s Chemotherapy Unit received £23,000 from Rosemere to buy a SiteRite 8 ultrasound system. £12,342 came from volunteers who signed up to Amy’s Army to walk the equivalent of the Great Wall of China (13,171 miles) and back to Preston in support of Penwortham mum-of-two Amy Mills.

Amy, 31, was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2020. In March this year, having undergone three surgeries, 18 weeks of chemotherapy and 15 radiotherapy sessions, Amy decided to mark the anniversary of her diagnosis
by fundraising.

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Her condition was that the donation went towards a project to benefit patients having chemotherapy at Rosemere Cancer Centre, where Amy still regularly goes for top-up drug treatment.

Dan Hill, chief officer of Rosemere Cancer Foundation, said: “As soon as Amy told us about her fundraising, we knew we had the perfect project for her to support.

“The chemo ward had a SiteRite 8 system on loan from its suppliers, and staff were desperate to buy it because it makes the process of inserting PICC lines much quicker and less invasive, which is important when
it comes to improving patient wellbeing and experience.

“Patient feedback was so good, we couldn’t let the system go back, and Amy and her army have helped us win our battle to keep it!”

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PICC lines are a way of delivering chemotherapy medicines intravenously.

PICC stands for Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter. Once in place in the arm, they can stay for months so that patients undergoing frequent chemotherapy do not have the pain of repeated needle sticks.

Amy is married to Gareth, with whom she has Henry, 6, and Sammy, 2, and was training to be an accountant before her diagnosis.

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Amy said: “I am delighted that we have been able to support this project. I know it’s going to make a huge difference to hundreds of patients every year as this ultrasound machine is the best and helps the nurse see exactly where the PICC line needs to go.”

Amy came up with her Great Wall challenge as she and Gareth used to work as English teachers in China and would take friends and family who flew out from the home to visit them to walk a section of the wall.

Amy is continuing to fundraise for Rosemere Cancer Foundation and is hosting a toy and cake sale at the United Reformed Church, Penwortham, from 9am to 2pm on Saturday 6 November.

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For more information, visit – www.rosemere.org.uk

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