An inspiring teenager from Kent who suffers from a rare type of cancer has been granted her wish of travelling to New York by her fairy godparents Rotary International in Great Britain and Ireland.
Nicole Dryburgh, who has spent the last eight years fighting tumours, a brain haemorrhage and blood clots that have left herblind, profoundly deaf and in a wheelchair, returned from her 10 day dream trip to New York on 17th July, organised by Tony Betts of the Rotary Club of Redbridge in London.
British Airways donated free roundtrip tickets for Nicole and her mother Jackie to fly to the metropolitan city, with Rotary providing a third ticket for her brother Lee so he didn’t miss out. The three were also given free rooms at a top New York hotel,The Time thanks to Hampshire Hotels & Resorts.
Nicole, 19, said: "I was over the moon when I heard that we were going to New York. We had an absolutely amazing time and we are extremely grateful to everybody who made ‘This holiday of a lifetime’ possible."
Rotarian Tony was spurred on to help grant Nicole’s wishes after seeing her at the final of Rotary’s Young Citizens Awardin April this year. Nicole was nominated by her local Rotary Clubof Faversham in recognition of her staggering fundraising efforts which have seen £42,000 being donated to The Silver Lining Appeal, a charity for King’s College Hospital in London. Nicole even took part in a sponsored abseil down the hospital just a day before flying out to New York.
She now hopes to raise a further £50,000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust which is building a specialist unit at The Royal Marsden Hospital in Surrey where Nicole has received her cancer treatment since she was 11.
The determined teenager has refused to let her illness or disabilities get in the way of living a full life and has put together a wish list that she is adamant she will achieve, which includes an abseil, meeting Prince Harry and her trip to New York.
Tony Betts from the Rotary Club of Redbridge said: "Nicole made such an impression on us that we wanted to help grant some ofher wishes. Her inner strength and determination are astounding. She has gone through unspeakable pain and suffering yet has used itto help others. Nicole is an inspiration to anyone who is going through difficult times that life is what you make it".
"We would like to say a huge thank you to British Airwaysfor giving return airline tickets and Hampshire Hotels & Resorts, LLC in New York for very generously giving the family two deluxe rooms at their fantastic hotel The Time. We would also like to thank all the Rotarians and many other kind people in New York who showed Nicole, Jackie and Lee around the Big Apple".
Jackie Dryburgh, Nicole’s mother, said: "Thank you so much to everyone from Rotary that has been involved in making my daughter’s wish come true. All I ever want to do is make my children happy but I know I could never have managed to do anything on this scale and I know that Nicole will be talking about this for a very long time."
Nicole has written a book about her struggle with cancer entitled ‘The Way I See It’ to help other people cope with illnesses and also writes a weekly column in her local newspaper as well as a diary of her life on her own website www.c-h-o-c.org.uk.
The Rotary Young Citizen Award was launched in association withBBC News in 2006. Nicole’s trip to New York featured on a BBC News channel on Saturday 19 July.
21/07/08
