€64,000 raised to help sick children in memory of Tipperary toddler Evan Jones

A Tipperary family whose lives were turned upside down when their son was diagnosed with cancer have continued to keep his memory alive after raising a staggering €64,000 to help other sick children.

Paddy and Marisa Jones from Newport lost their son Evan to a rare form of childhood cancer in February 2017 shortly after his second birthday.

To date the Jones family, and their loyal band of helpers in the form of the Team Evan committee, have raised over €64,000 as a result of their 5km family fun runs held annually during the October bank holiday weekend.  

Proceeds totaling €30,500 from this year’s event were divided equally among two causes close to the Jones family - children’s ambulance service Bumbleance and St. John’s Oncology Ward in Our Lady's Children's Hospital Crumlin to fund a dedicated play specialist for teenagers diagnosed with cancer.

In 2018 the family handed over a cheque worth €33,000 to St. Johns to be spent on frontline care and cancer research.  

“There was a play specialist in the hospital who made Evan very happy and the money we raised this year will now help fund a second specialist for older children and teenagers,” explains Paddy.

In the summer of 2016 little Evan was diagnosed with a malignant Rhabdoid Tumour and spent the next seven months undergoing treatment and intensive rounds of chemotherapy.

 As news reached Newport, plans were already in motion to organise a fundraising appeal by friends and family members eager to help the young family whose world had just been turned upside down.

“When Evan was diagnosed straight away we felt this wave of support and everyone was out trying to help and do their bit. People started to organise fundraisers because we thought initially we'd have to go to Boston and later Germany for Evan's treatment. A few weeks after his  funeral I had people saying to me you have to keep going with this. I suppose we are trying to do something positive out of something that was very tough,” Paddy  says, describing the Team Evan committee as the “type to drop everything to help out.”

Each year in Ireland  there are almost 200 children diagnosed with cancer and Paddy says the funds raised through Team Evan Jones are having an immediate impact on patients in St. John's.

“Unless you have been touched by cancer, you won’t realise how important services like Bumbleance or play specialists are. They help bring a bit of normality into a difficult situation.

“We went back to St. John’s to present the cheque and met some of the doctors, nurses, oncologists that treated Evan. Even though it's quite emotional being there again we have a lot of happy memories of our time there with Evan. Despite being so ill, he never stopped smiling.”