Athlone dance couple launch cancer fundraising trust

The daughter of local dance teachers is battling a rare form of cancer and her family has now launched a major fundraising drive, which includes a bid to take the Christmas number one slot. Judith Sibley, who founded Shannon Dance Academy in 2002, and Leighton Morrison had their lives turned upside down in June this year when they discovered that their four-year-old daughter Lily-Mae Sunni Morrison had stage four Neuroblastoma. This is a rare form of cancer that effects one in 100,000 children in Ireland. The family lives in Galway and both Judith and Leighton teach at Shannon Dance Academy, which has offered regular classes in Athlone for over ten years. The Sunni-Mae Trust has been established to help Lily-Mae and her family during this time as Lily-Mae is now undergoing an 18-month treatment programme for her illness and has just completed her first bout of chemotherapy. Her uncle, Paul Hayes, who is running the fundraising campaign told the Westmeath Independent this week that Lily-Mae has been great in recent times, but said the pressure is on her parents as children don't understand the seriousness of the situation. The website set up to help raise fund for Lily-Mae stated: "She likes dinosaurs and dancing, she is very sick at the moment but hopes with your help to be dancing again soon." Lily-Mae was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma in June and before she was diagnosed she had a dull pain in her lower back and was listless. Following Lily-Mae's diagnosis Paul and his family launched the Sunni-Mae Trust to raise significant funds to help Lily-Mae and her family during this tough time. Since the trust was launched in July, some €52,000 has been raised. Paul explained that this money has been raised by ordinary people across Ireland and he is now hoping to raise money from the corporate community now. He said the funds raised had provided a great solace to Judith and Leighton because they will be unable to work for a year. Paul added that the family has received significant national media coverage and so has decided to continue to fundraise to help other families like theirs and to assist research into this terrible disease. The Sunni-Mae Trust has a number of events planned in the coming months, the details of which are available at http://www.idonate.ie/lily One of the bigger projects the trust has organised is 'A Song for Lily-Mae', which they hope to get to number one this Christmas. The charity has obtained the rights of Elton John's song 'Tiny Dancer', an apt choice given Lily-Mae's love of dancing and the fact that both her parents are dancers. A choir of 250 from different musical societies across the country will sing the song, alongside a host of stars including Declan O'Rourke, Paddy Casey, Camille O'Sullivan, Mundy, Liam O'Maonlai, Gemma Hayes, Mary Black, The Pale, John Spillane, Julie Feeney, Kila, Preacher's son and three West End Stars. More and more people are coming on board every day and Paul pointed out that they have all given their time freely. The song will be recorded in Galway on September 30. For more information on the song log onto http://www.fundit.ie/project/a-song-for-lily-mae For more information on how you can get involved with fundraising for Lily-May email paulhaze@hotmail.com or go to the following link http://www.idonate.ie/lily Alternatively you can donate at: The Sunni Mae Trust; Acc: 56935068; Sort: 932094.