Brave Stephenie to front charity campaign after beating disease

Published on Thursday 16 July 2009 09:54

IT'S hard to believe today, but in her short life Stephenie Omond-McGarry has lost all her hair, seen her weight balloon and had all her teeth removed.

Now, at the age of just eight, the East Lothian girl has marked a terrific turnaround by becoming the face of a charity campaign.

She has been chosen by Cancer Research UK to front a mission to increase donations of unwanted clothes for the organisation's shops, which have fallen drastically in the recession.

This comes a short time after the Dunbar child was given the all-clear after years battling acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, which saw her miss two years of schooling because of hospital stays.

In that time, she also contracted meningitis and several bouts of flu as she fought to survive the cancer.

Her mother, Lyndsay Omond, said: "Her weight was up and down all the time because of the steroids – at times she looked like Violet from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who blew right up.

"She twice lost her hair and had to have her baby teeth taken out.

"Although it was upsetting for her to lose her hair and teeth, she was still very young to understand what was going on."

After her treatment ended in 2007, Stephenie embarked on a long road to recovery, receiving word that the cancer had gone earlier this year.

"Her weight's back to normal, her hair's back to normal and she's got lovely big white teeth," added her mum.

"She has missed two years, but she's a bright spark and I've no worries she'll catch up fine.

"Of course, it's always going to be in the back of your mind, every time she has aches or pains.

"It was a tough spell – every time she got an infection she'd be rushed into the Sick Kids for ten days at a time.

"Her treatment finished in 2007 and then it takes a year and a bit to get the all-clear.

"We were always hopeful she would – I don't think there's any other way to be in that situation."

Stephanie's image will now appear on Cancer Research UK promotional material.

Since the credit crunch and subsequent recession, public donations to many charity shops have dropped by as much as 50 per cent.

Lucinda Baddeley-Marr, manager of the Cancer Research UK shop in Morningside, where the campaign was launched, added: "Our customers are great and as loyal as ever, but it is getting more difficult to keep the shelves and the rails stocked.

"The demand is there so we need help to replenish our stock all the time."

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