Mum whose teenage son died from rare blood cancer joins calls for better Northern Ireland services

A mother whose teenage son died from a rare form of blood cancer has joined calls for better regional services and facilities to help improve survival rates.

It follows the publication of a UK-wide blood cancer action plan, launched today by Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood.

Ozzie was just 17 when he died in September 2020 after a two-year battle with acute myeloid leukaemia - a rare type of blood cancer.

"He was such a character ... he loved his guitar, he loved family life, he loved rugby, he was just a good wee lad growing up," his mum Miranda Rogers said.

According to Blood Cancer UK, blood cancer is the UK’s third biggest cancer killer.

The situation in Northern Ireland is of particular concern, due to a lack of facilities and services available elsewhere in the UK - something Ozzie and his family experienced when he transitioned from child to adult services at the age of 16.

"Ozzie sent a message to the teenage cancer trust, to say the difference between children's - which was so lovely, and adult was like being in prison," Miranda explained.

The campaign for better services is a personal one for Sorcha Eastwood, whose husband is battling a rare form of blood cancer.

Following today’s report she has called for Northern Ireland to have its own regional blood cancer and haematology centre so that patients do not have to travel so far from home.

"Coming off the back of this report, there is so much more that needs to be done in terms of facilities, in terms of workforce - not just in Northern Ireland but across the UK," she said.

"Certainly for me, as a family, we have lived and seen the impact of that first hand."

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