Michael's story

Michael Swain is 18 years old and lives in Ballykelly in Northern Ireland. He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in November 2010. His cancer has had a huge financial impact on his family. Read on to find out how CLIC Sargent supported the whole family.

Michael’s mum Mary takes up the story:

“Michael started to get pains in his knees so we visited our local GP to get it checked out. We ended up at Antrim hospital where Michael had a bone marrow biopsy, and at this stage it was confirmed as leukaemia. From here we were referred to Belfast City Hospital which is almost 70 miles from home."

Birthday and Christmas away from home

"The travel had a big impact on our family. It came at a time when the winter weather was incredibly bad with snow and ice on the roads. Michael spent 3 months in hospital from December to March, meaning that he missed his birthday and Christmas at home. So we were doing round trips of more than 130 miles most days."

Meeting our CLIC Sargent Social Worker

"When we first arrived at the hospital everything was so overwhelming. Then this face appeared in the doorway, it was Laurena our CLIC Sargent Social Worker. She was like an angel and we would have been lost without her."

“At that point all we could think about was if Michael was going to be ok and how we were going to afford all the travelling and extra costs."

Mounting costs

“Money was already a concern for us before Michael’s diagnosis. My husband and I were not working at the time and I was caring for my father. So the prospect of lengthy treatment and the extra financial burden was overwhelming.

“Due to my situation, credit was not an option for us. It is also embarrassing to have to apply for credit when you know you will be declined. We weren’t able to get loans or credit cards and were worried about the prospect of lengthy repayments. Instead we were forced to borrow from family and we continue to get their support today. I’ve lost track of the amount of extra money we have needed.

“We had to spend so much on petrol and this meant that we didn’t have as much money for other outgoings like food shopping.”

Help from CLIC Sargent

“Laurena explained all of the grants that were available to us and showed us how to contact other organisations and get more information. It was also important to hear about the stories of other people and know that we were not alone.

“The financial grants provided by CLIC Sargent also made a big difference to us. At that stage every little helps. It all would have been too overwhelming without the help of CLIC Sargent.”