Tag Archives: White Blood Cells

Get Behind Kyran in Hattie’s Haka: Support Leukaemia CARE & One-year-old Hattie Seymour

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The family of one-year-old Hattie Seymour, who has just been diagnosed with acute lymphomblastic leukaemia (ALL) are urging members of the public to join rugby star Kyran Bracken and take part in ‘Hattie’s Haka’ as she undergoes chemotherapy to fight the disease.

Get behind Kyran in Hattie’s Haka support Leukaemia CARE & One-year-old Hattie Seymour

 

One-year-old Hattie Seymour from Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, was diagnosed with acute lymphomblastic leukaemia (ALL), on 21st November turning her family’s world upside down.

 

Brave Hattie started treatment this week, in an effort to rid her body of the leukaemia cells in her blood. She will find out on Tuesday 2nd December if the chemotherapy has been a success or whether she will need a stem cell transplant to hopefully cure her.

 

In a bid to show solidarity, her family has launched Hattie’s Haka, an appeal encouraging people to don their war paint and either video or photograph themselves doing the famous war dance made famous by the New Zealand All Blacks as well as make a small donation to Leukaemia CARE, a national blood cancer support charity. Since the appeal started on Monday (24th November), donations on Hattie’s Just Giving page have already exceeded £6,000.

 

After being contacted by Hattie’s grandfather, international rugby star, Kyran Bracken, has backed the appeal by photographing himself doing the Haka to help raise awareness of leukaemia and support Hattie and her family during a difficult and emotional time. The family are calling for the rest of the rugby community, as well as the general public, to get involved.

 

Katie Seymour, Hattie’s mother, said: “Despite this being an incredibly emotional and distressing time for us, we are overwhelmed by the huge amount of support we have had from not only friends and family, but total strangers, too. We never thought it would take off like this, but we are so grateful for everyone’s well wishes and we’re trying to remain positive and upbeat for Hattie.

 

“We have decided to support Leukaemia CARE because they not only help the patients, but the families affected by leukaemia too, so we wanted to give something back and help them continue their hard work.”

 

Kevin Hateley, Fundraising Manager at Leukaemia CARE, said: “A diagnosis of a blood cancer can be devastating for anyone, but when a child is diagnosed, it can be a terribly traumatic time for so many people. We are encouraging people to join in with Hattie’s Haka so we can continue to provide support to families just like Hattie’s’”

 

ALL is an acute form of leukaemia (cancer of the white blood cells), characterised by the overproduction of cancerous, immature white blood cells—known as lymphoblasts or blast cells.

 

One-third of all childhood cancers are leukaemia, with approximately 400 new cases in the UK each year. Approximately three out of four of these cases are acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). ALL can affect children of any age, but is more common in children aged one to four.

 

If you’d like to donate to show your support for Hattie, visit https://www.justgiving.com/hattieshaka and upload your Haka photo or video to www.facebook.com/HattiesHeroes

 

 

The White Stripes: Already Forgotten?

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The White Stripes have officially announced their break-up.

In a statement on their website, the Detroit due explained that “the reason is not due to artistic differences or lack of wanting to continue, nor any health issues as Meg and Jack are fine and in good health. It is for a myriad of reasons, but mostly to preserve what is beautiful and special about the band and have it stay that way.” The statement goes on to mention that Third Man Records, the record label set up by Jack White, would continue to release unheard studio and live recordings through their Vault Subscription record club.

The band consisted of Jack White (vocals , guitar and keyboards) and Meg White (drums) who were previously married, although they divorced amicably in 2000 after less than four years of marriage. Two people, big noise. The whole sound was certainly greater than the sum of their parts with just guitars, drums, voice and keyboards.

They released their eponymous debut album in 1999 on anti-music industry record label, Sympathy for the Record Industry, although it wasn’t until their third album, White Blood Cells, released in 2001, that the duo enjoyed their first significant success, selling over 500,000 copies of the record. The band’s next album, Elephant, came along in 2003 and was their first on major label, V2. It was also their first UK chart-topping album and eventually went double platinum.

Since Elephant, the band have released two more albums, Get Behind Me Satan in 2005 and Icky Thump in 2007, toured the world over and been blessed with a whole host of awards, accolades, fans and critical acclaim. In 2007, however, the band cancelled all remaining touring commitments after it was revealed Meg was suffering from acute anxiety problems. Although not hinted at in their statement, it is thought that these problems are behind the reason they called it a day.

Having not released a record since 2007, the splitting up of the White Stripes will not come as a great shock to many. However, Jack White has certainly kept himself busy since that time. He continues to run his Third Man record label, produces records by the label’s bands and still finds time to write, record and tour with both The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. It is unclear what Meg White’s next moves will be, having kept a very low profile since the tours were cancelled.

In a postscript to their fans, and clearly with one eye on their legacy, the band explain: “The White Stripes do not belong to Meg and Jack anymore. The White Stripes belong to you now and you can do with it whatever you want. The beauty of art and music is that it can last forever if people want it to. Thank you for sharing this experience. Your involvement will never be lost on us and we are truly grateful.”