Samantha Jones Trust donates £12k towards specialist equipment

Saddleworth-based children’s leukaemia charity, The Samantha Jones Trust (TSJT), has donated £12,000 to fund specialist equipment to help make the hospital environment less scary for poorly patients treated on the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit (BMTU) at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

The specialist 3D Pain Distraction Unit will be used to ease patients’ fears and take their minds off the medical procedures they can dread.

This state-of-the-art equipment projects a series of interactive 3D images and games that children can control and enjoy whilst they undergo medical treatment.

Wearing special 3D glasses, patients at the hospital will become completely immersed in a colourful world of virtual reality that distracts them from pain and blocks out the frightening sights and sounds of the treatment room.

The Samantha Jones Trust was set up in memory of Samantha Jones who was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) when she was just 14-years-old and admitted to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital to begin chemotherapy.

Following gruelling treatment, Samantha went on to receive a Bone Marrow Transplant at the hospital, which was donated by her sister Natalie who was a perfect match.

Although the transplant was initially a success, sadly the cancer returned in 2001 and after months of battling against the illness, Samantha sadly passed away in September, 2002.

The Trust is a tribute to Samantha’s tremendous courage through adversity.

They chose to donate money for a pain distraction unit as the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit is close to their hearts and the equipment will help to achieve their goal of making a difference to children undergoing gruelling treatments for Leukaemia.

Samantha’s dad and Chairman of the Trust, Keith Jones, said: “As a family we spent most of a two year period in hospital with our daughter Samantha and witnessed the distress that treatment can cause.

"We are delighted to be able to offer this new unit to the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit so that children's suffering through their treatment can be eased.

"TSJT was set up to help children and families through the periods of intense treatment and the 3D Pain Distraction Unit will achieve this".

Elizabeth Coulson, Senior Development Manager for Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital charity, said: “We’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone at the Samantha Jones Trust for their very generous donation for this specialist equipment for the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at our Children’s Hospital.

"The unit will make a tremendous difference to poorly children treated at our hospital.

"They are clinically proven to make patients feel calmer and more relaxed and by taking a child’s mind off their procedure, the pain and fear associated with it is reduced.

"Support like this is invaluable to our charity, so we are delighted with this donation.”

The support of Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital Charity means that the hospital can provide additional resources that make life easier for patients and their families who use the hospital.

The charity has three main areas of work:

•           to provide state-of-the-art equipment for diagnosis and treatment

•           to support research projects to improve our understanding of children’s illnesses

•           to help to create an environment that’s more child-friendly