9:00am Tuesday 16th March 2010
By Jon Livesey
THE bravery of a teenage girl who suffers from a rare condition which causes tumours to grow has spurred a Burnley mum on to climb one of the biggest mountains in the world.
Mum-of-three Val Sibon, 50, from Cliviger, is gearing up to scale Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa to raise money for the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
She has been 'inspired' to carry out her charity mission by 15-year-old Hannah Walmsley who suffers from the incurable Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia (MEN) and faces a lifetime of operations.
Hannah lives in Worsthorne with her parents, Ian and Tracy and older brother Paul.
Since being told she had MEN 10 months ago she has had benign tumours removed from her thyroid and both lungs.
After each operation she has had to recover in the intensive care department at The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
Doctors have told the Walmsley family that the condition is incurable, although Hannah can have regular scans to look for tumours.
At the moment she is on a thee month break from any treatment, scans or surgery.
She was set to meet specialists yesterday to establish a treatment timetable for the rest of the year.
Tracy said: "It turned our world upside down when we first found out but we feel very lucky that we live in times where scans are available that pick up any tumours.
"We feel positive that if any more materialise there are people out there who are able to help us get through it.
"However, the surgery has always been quite traumatic for us all because she has ended up in intensive care everytime but we are lucky that we have a close group of friends and family who are always there to support us."
Last May Hannah was crowned Rose Queen at St John the Evangelist Church, in Worsthorne and has held a number of fundraising events for the hospital.
Tracy said: "She has been absolutely amazing and determined to get back to school with her friends.
“She is also very positive which has helped everyone around her."
Val, who also has a grandson, will carry out voluntary work in Tanzania for three months this summer.
As part of the project Val, who works for the NHS, will work with orphaned children and disadvantaged communities.
Val first met Hannah’s mum Tracy when the pair were working in the neo-natal unit at Burnley General Hospital a number of years ago.
She said she had known Hannah since she was a little girl.
Hannah said: "It is great that she is doing this and she is being brave.
“There are some celebrities who have done things like this and they have struggled. I am really glad that Val is doing it."
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