Kayla Buttle, 6, is currently receiving treatment for leukaemia (Picture: Stacey Buttle)
Families of children with cancer are ‘not able to make any memories’ due to the cost of taking their children to hospital.
Some 82% of families cut back on leisure and entertainment due to the amount they are spending to drive to treatment, Young Lives vs Cancer found.
More than 70% also said they are struggling to meet the rising costs of fuel, with the price of petrol leaping to the highest they have been all year.
Many travel up to 350 miles a month, with some even undertaking 100-mile round trips up to five times a week to get to hospital.
Now, Young Lives vs Cancer and families are asking the government for financial support for transport so families ‘can enjoy the time they have’.
Stacey Buttle, mum to six-year-old Kayla who is receiving treatment for leukaemia, said her family are ‘missing out on memories’ because the cost of driving to treatment is so high.
When Kayla was first diagnosed, the family would travel 60 miles from their home in Norwich to Addenbrooke’s hospital.
Ms Buttle, 37, told Metro.co.uk: ‘We aren’t guaranteed the next few months or years, and we just want to make memories.
Kayla’s mum, Stacey Buttle, says her family is ‘missing out on memories’ (Picture: Stacey Buttle)
‘We are missing out on milestones, and all we want to do is make enough special moments with our kids without making sure there is enough fuel in our car.
‘We don’t get to do things families take for granted, like the last day of school or Christmases.
‘Even going to the beach, that can be a cheap day out if you take a picnic but you’ve got to think “do I have enough money to put extra fuel in or do I have enough in there if something went wrong?” It’s not a pleasant feeling, it’s awful.’
Ms Buttle, who is also mum to Riley, 11, and nine-year-old Kory, says her sons are also forced to miss out.
Stacey says her two sons, Kory and Riley, are also missing out (Picture: Stacey Buttle)
‘I want to make sure the boys have fun, but they have missed out on loads because I need to be there for Kayla in case I need to take her to hospital,’ she said.
‘We don’t want the boys to miss out but we have to choose the lesser of two evils.
‘Because Kayla is auto immune suppressed, we can’t take her to any big spaces due to the risk of infection, and that then means more trips to the hospital and time away from my other children.’
Ms Buttle said the creation of a fuel fun would mean she would no longer have to worry ‘whether there is enough petrol in the tank’.
The family would travel 60 miles from their home in Norwich to Addenbrooke’s hospital (Picture: stacey Buttle)
‘This problem isn’t just financial, it’s emotional too,’ she added.
‘You’re sitting there thinking “how am I going to afford this?” you’re running a home with your family in it, your gas, electric, heating, food and everything and then you’re thrown into this world.’
You can sign the petition for the creation of a fund here.
‘This problem isn’t just financial, it’s emotional too.’