Holly’s Hearts ❤️

Holly Prince was just 3 years old when she was diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic condition called Bloom Syndrome. Less than 300 people in the world are registered with it. Bloom Syndrome is characterised by unusually small size, sensitivity to sunlight, immune system deficiencies and an extraordinarily high risk for developing cancer of any type early in life. 

Holly was diagnosed after 2 years of being on the 100,000 genomes project which is a project that searches the DNA for any abnormalities. Receiving the diagnosis in March 2020 was devastating for the Prince family. 

There is no cure for Bloom Syndrome but with intensive cancer screening from a young age it is hoped that any cancers can be caught early and treated successfully. 

Just 3 months after the diagnosis for Bloom Syndrome in June 2020, Holly went for an urgent ultrasound scan after the family had concerns and she was diagnosed with Wilm’s Tumour - a rare kidney cancer that affects young children. 

Holly’s tumour was removed in August 2020, and the lab results revealed that it was a grade 2 ‘High Risk’ tumour, which meant that Holly must undergo 34 weeks of intense chemotherapy drugs to prevent the cancer from returning. The chemotherapy was tough for Holly, and each time her blood counts struggled to recover to a safe level, so just over halfway through, the doctors decided that the risks of carrying on were too high, and her treatment was stopped early. However, Holly’s end-of-treatment scans in June showed no evidence of cancer. Follow-up scans in September 2021 showed the tumour had relapsed to the site where the kidney was, and that surgery was needed to remove the tumour along with her spleen. Holly then had Proton Beam Therapy in November to that area which involved treatment every day for three weeks. Then in December routine scans had shown a third relapse, this time to the lung area. The family were told that she’d have to undergo a new chemotherapy regime which she started just before Christmas, followed by surgery and more radiation. 

Unfortunately, at the beginning of March 2022, scans showed that the cancer had progressed, and Holly became very poorly. She battled on for another 4 weeks but sadly passed away on the 8th of April 2022.

Now the Prince family want to honour Holly's life by setting up their own charity in her memory. After months of discussions and deliberating what Holly would want, they have decided to create Holly's Hearts ❤️ Creating heartwarming memories for children with cancer.

Its main aim is to give children gifts, experiences and respite to put a smile on their faces and create memories that they will treasure forever. At the time of writing this 31st October 2022, the set-up process has started, but it's not yet complete. We will continue to use this GoFundMe account for donations until the charity is set up with its charity bank account.

Thank you for everybody's support throughout Holly's journey, and we look forward to seeing the growth of the new charity Hollys Hearts ❤️.

You can also follow Holly's story so far on her Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/Hollys-Blooms-Journey-112998050468747/ 

On behalf of the Prince Family, we thank you in advance for your love, time and support.