'No matter however difficult it gets, Olivia always has a smile on her face'

THREE years ago, a small community came together to help a little girl fight for her life.

- LOIS MCCARTHY

Pupils at Cwmavan have learnt about the services offered by Ty Hafan through assemblies.

(CWMAFAN PRIMARY SCHOOL)

Now, that same community has rallied once again - not for one family alone, but for the charity that has carried them through the most devastating chapter of their journey.In 2021, two-year-old Olivia Finch from Bryn, Neath Port Talbot, became seriously unwell. For more than 40 days she had been vomiting and struggling to walk.

When her mum and dad - Kelly and Nick - finally received answers, they were devastating: stage four neuroblastoma, an aggressive childhood cancer with a survival rate of around 50%. Kelly remembers being unable to even speak about the diagnosis for two weeks.

"We just couldn't," she stated. "I have never felt pain like it."

Word quickly spread through the village that one of their own needed help. The community became a pillar of support for the Finch family, especially when a glimmer of hope appeared in the form of a clinical trial in America; a potential way to prevent Olivia's cancer from returning.

Although that hope came with a daunting price tag, the village was undeterred and sprang into action. Fundraising began on March 1, 2022, and the response was overwhelming. Bake sales, sponsored walks and charity events filled the calendar.

Donations poured in not just from Wales, but from as far away as South Africa and Australia. Within a month alone, they had already raised £150,000 of the £250,000 needed.

"People were incredible," Kelly says. "We had messages from people we'd never met. You could feel the whole community behind us, lifting us up when we needed it most."

But time was not on their side. The urgency was palpable, as the threat of Olivia relapsing loomed over the family. If she relapsed, her chances of survival would plummet to just 5% and tragically, that fear became a reality.