Westhoughton High School raise money for Holly Prince

Jenny Prince’s daughter Holly Prince, tragically died in April of this year after doctors discovered she had a Wilms’ tumour, which only affects children and most commonly those under the age of 5.

Holly was first diagnosed with Bloom Syndrome in March 2020, which is an “ultra-rare” condition.

The condition means that the child’s stature is small, which increases the risk of developing cancer at a young age.

Bloom Syndrome is so rare that only less than 300 people in the world are registered with it.

Only months after this diagnosis, Holly was then diagnosed with cancer in June 2020.

Jenny said: “It was quite a long time before we could face it.

Holly and her mum enjoying a day at the beech (Image: Public)

“We only had three months, and it was there.

“It was really hard to digest because she got Bloom Syndrome and then the next thing, she got cancer.

“She was under investigation for being small for her age.

“She was really petite and a lot smaller than other kids her age.”

Jenny described the time as a “rollercoaster journey”, with several chemotherapy treatments and radiotherapy sessions back and forth.

In June 2021 Holly was in remission and had rung the bell, but the cancer came back in September 2021.

The two had such a close bond (Image: Public)

After undergoing surgery and radiotherapy, the cancer went away, but it came back again in December 2021.

Jenny added: “The cancer kept coming back, and she got really poorly in March of this year.

“We are trying as best we can each day, but it’s hard.”

Jenny says that Holly was cheeky and funny and that “everyone loved her”.

She added: “She will always be remembered by her long red hair and pink glasses.”                                                                                                      

Westhoughton High School have previously raised money for charities during fun runs in the past, but not for a while.

With Jenny being the head of PE at the school, they decided to put this together for her and Holly.

The fun run raised around £6k for Derian House and Children with Cancer UK.

She added: “It was really lovely of my colleagues to do that.

“I’m really thankful that they did that in her memory.

Westhoughton's students and Jenny during the fun run (Image: Public)

“When I walked in on Tuesday it was really emotional to see all the prefects with their t-shirts and all the effort, they put into it.

“The students all ran the race, and they were saying nice things to me all day.

“It was nice to see them all come together and have a great day.

“Westhoughton really do come together for the community.”

Headteacher Neil Coe said: “The sense of community in school was genuinely incredible during the event.

“Staff and students came together to support a cause that is close to the hearts of so many and particularly so for us here at WHS.

“I was so proud to see so many students take part and whilst we’d had to postpone the event due to the heatwave in the summer, the rain this week didn’t even dampen the spirits of our incredible students and staff.”

Jenny has since made a Facebook page called Holly’s Blooms Journey documenting her experience, and she hopes to turn this into a charity one day.

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If you have a story and something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at jasmine.jackson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @JournoJasmine.