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As we're sure some of you are aware, our son Thomas was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer (an osteosarcoma of the femur) last November. Everything was very traumatic. He has been receiving treatment at both RNOH Stanmore and at UCLH. His chemotherapy was supposed to shrink his tumour in order to make a subsequent operation (in late January/early February) to remove it easier. Unfortunately he did not respond positively to the chemo, and the tumour grew aggressively. His operation was brought forward (twice), and on Sunday 11 December the tumour was removed in an emergency operation to save his leg.

The operation was successful, and thanks to the skill of Prof Tim Briggs and the whole surgical team, and to all the help and support that Thomas has received and in no small part to his own hard work, determination and positive attitude, he is now well on the road to recovery - and we are incredibly proud of him. He is undergoing mop up chemotherapy which is due to complete at Easter, when hopefully life will return to some degree of normality.

Helen gave up alcohol when Thomas was diagnosed with cancer at the start of November, and I gave up in January. We both have been known to enjoy the odd glass (or two!) of red wine, but wanted to show solidarity as a family with Thomas as he undergoes his treatment. Thomas has had to give up so many things that he loves doing during this period, and we wanted to show our commitment to him by giving up something that we enjoy ourselves - so we decided to give up alcohol until the end of his active treatment, which coincides with Easter Sunday.

RNOH Stanmore was built in 1942 with an expected life span of 15 years - it is the country's orthopaedic centre of excellence, but unfortunately its facilities are very basic, being the original Nissen huts from the 1940s. They have to raise £15 million as part of a PPI initiative to redevelop the hospital, which is much needed and will benefit the patients and staff. To recognise the importance of Thomas' life saving operation there and to express our gratitude, we wanted to play a part in helping them to realise this worthy ambition and we would be most grateful if you would help us with this aim and raise money for the RNOH.

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