AN IRISH FAMILY in need is asking people to donate what they would spend on Valentine’s gifts this year to a teenager battling cancer.
Shauntelle ‘Shan’ Tynan is an 18-year-old girl from Carlow – in March of 2015, she was diagnosed with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH), a rare form of cancer.
The rarity of the disease means she has to travel to a specialist in Texas, at great cost to the family – a four month stay in Texas Children’s Hospital between September and December of last year came in at $527,000.
The Tynan family set up a GoFundMe page in the hopes of raising money for the trip, and as news of Shan’s plight spread, they received over €130,000 in donations in a week.
Donations continued to pour in over the course of the trip thanks to events and drives held by people back at home, with the total breaking the €500,000 mark earlier today.
Shan returned from Texas in January – but in a video posted to her YouTube channel on Sunday, she revealed she would have to go back for at least a year for more treatment:
It’s crazy that my life is put on a number and how much money I need to make… And we need to make at least €350,000 and I need to move by March.
If you fly outside of Europe, [the government] don’t help with medical costs… I just think it’s ridiculous.
Shan’s heartbreaking video has since been shared thousands of times on social media – and for Valentine’s Day, she is asking people to donate what they would spend on gifts or flowers for their loved ones to the appeal.
At the time of writing, over €69,000 has been raised today alone – and people are showing their support with the #TeamShan hasthag on Twitter.
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Shan’s mam Leona has thanked all who have donated, dubbing today ‘Shanantine’s Day’:
Thank you all so much for your incredible support, every donation is a step closer to target and getting Shan’s life back. We are blown away by all you are doing to help, I wish we could thank each and every one of you individually, you have no idea how much your support means to us.
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