Mum raises £40,000 for charity after son, 3, diagnosed with rare cancer

A mum from Gorseinon has raised over £40,000 for charity after her three-year-old son was diagnosed with cancer.

In October last year, Morgan was diagnosed with a rare liver cancer that affects one in three million people.

After spending a large part of 2021 in a children's hospital in Cardiff and then Birmingham, Natalie decided to throw herself into fundraising - raising money for Latch Wales, Noahs Ark Children's Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Cardiff.

She said: "There was a period of about ten weeks where we were in hospital and there was a lot of uncertainty and I felt like I had no control over anything whatsoever.

"It just started off with the blog online. We had a Facebook page and a TikTok account where I was just sharing our experience and sharing what Morgan was going through.

"I added a fundraiser onto one of my posts and it went a bit mental. In a really tough time it was quite rewarding that I could give back to people who were helping us quite a lot.

"Then I was able to do some fundraising raffles and stuff from the hospital room and that gave me a bit more control and a bit of a centre in a world that was a bit all over the shop really."

Natalie then decided to raise money by selling some t-shirts with the slogan 'No one fights alone', run the Cardiff Half Marathon and organise community events including a bingo night and an open mic night.

"We've also been doing some charity walks where the children have been participating in", she added.

"Morgan and Rhiannon [Morgan's sister] did a princess and pirate walk not so long ago where they got to dress up. It was really lovely for Morgan because probably five weeks before that, he wasn't able to walk at all.

"'Morgan's Army' was the term I started using when I was writing my blog. The whole reason I was raising money was to make sure no one had to go without these charities.

"If those charities weren't able to do what they did for us, it would've been a very, very dark time in our lives and they were almost a helping hand when we were on the floor.

"Knowing that the money I've raised will go to help other children is what makes it all ok that Morgan's had to go through something like this.

"I hope that we can keep raising money and continue to support these causes going forward and the biggest thing is the awareness that comes along with it as well.

"If we can raise more awareness of childhood cancers and how they start then we can start getting children diagnosed earlier, getting them treated earlier and hopefully seeing them through to the end in a much better state than we are seeing children ending treatment now."

Natalie is one of the four final nominees for ITV Cymru Wales' Fundraiser of the Year Award.

The winner will join winners from the other ITV regions, for the chance to win Pride of Britain's Fundraiser of the Year.