Hercules the Bear gives young cancer patients extra strength this Christmas

A young cancer survivor who was treated in Bristol stars in this year’s national fundraising campaign from H. Samuel and Ernest Jones to raise money for Young Lives vs Cancer, the UK’s leading charity for children and young people with cancer.

This year’s bear is called Hercules, in honour of the strength and bravery that many young people and children show when faced with cancer each year, children like Evie.

Evie was just four-years-old when she was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in October 2020. After undergoing two rounds of chemotherapy, her family were told it hadn’t worked as well as the doctors had hoped and Evie was referred for a bone marrow transplant in Bristol, 100 miles from home.

The family were able to stay in one of Young Lives vs Cancer’s free Home from Home facilities in Bristol so that they were close to Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital during Evie’s treatment. What should have been a three month stay turned into eight months for Evie and her mum, after Evie was very unwell following her transplant. They were one of the longest stays at a Home from Home.

“To rent somewhere in Bristol would have cost us a fortune and been really crippling for us financially so we are so grateful to have been able to stay at CLIC House,” says Evie’s mum Emma.

With Evie’s dad Nick having to go back to work and look after her older sibling Millie back home in Oxfordshire, Emma spent most of Evie’s treatment in Bristol on her own. Staying in the Home from Home meant that Nick and Millie were able to come and visit on weekends and have a comfortable space to call home.

“That’s what we will be forever grateful for to Young Lives vs Cancer, they have us that little bit of family time, time to just be together.”

In November 2021, Evie was finally allowed home – hopefully for good. As a leaving gift, Evie was given her very own Hercules the Bear as a marker of how strong and brave she has been.

Each day, 12 children and young people in the UK receive the devastating news that they have cancer. Young Lives vs Cancer helps families to find the strength to face everything that cancer throws at them. From providing social workers and day to day to support, to helping with the costs that cancer brings and providing free Homes from Homes for patients and their families to stay whilst they access cancer treatment.

Get your own Hercules the Bear and give children and young people the strength to fight cancer this Christmas. Hercules the Bear is available to purchase online for £9.99 here or in H. Samuel stores and £3.50 from each sale will be donated to Young Lives vs Cancer.