Family 'skimped to get by' during toddler's cancer treatment

Family 'skimped to get by' during toddler's cancer treatment3 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleJayne McCormackPolitical correspondent, BBC News NIFamilyAria, who was diagnosed with leukaemia, and her twin sister, ArabellaFor years, Alyssa McCrea wasn't sure when life with her young twin girls, Aria and Arabella, would feel normal again. In summer 2022 Aria was diagnosed with leukaemia, aged three, and the family were thrust into a world of long hospital stays and regular travel.Treatment would take two-and-a-half years in Belfast - a 110-mile return journey from the family's home in Derrykeighan, County Antrim - and costs mounted up as Alyssa made the journey up to four times a week.In February, the government announced a bespoke fund to cover travel costs for families like Aria's facing the prospect of lengthy cancer treatment, but it only applies in England. Stormont's Department of Health said it was "not possible" to set up a similar scheme in Northern Ireland, as there was not enough money in its budget.Alyssa got the news of Aria's diagnosis just before she was due to start nursery.Families of children with cancer to have travel costs coveredCancer transport costs 'takes off so much stress'Parents of sick children call for help with costs"It was a massive shock, I couldn't even say the word cancer, I couldn't process it," said the now mum-of-three."Sometimes I'd have been up to the hospital for her treatment, we'd no sooner be home than she would take a high temperature and we'd have to go straight back up the road to make sure it wasn't anything major."Alyssa McCrea said the family "were skimping to get by"She was able to get a small amount of financial support from children's cancer charities as well as family and friends, but expenses kept rising."Sometimes I would have asked my mum after we'd ended up in hospital...