A talented south Armagh schoolboy has raised £5,000 for the Mandeville Cancer Unit in Craigavon thanks for sales of a Christmas CD he recorded last year.
Conor Sands, from Camlough, is the youngest of four children to Niall and Joanne Sands from Camlough.
He recorded the CD as a way of showing his gratitude to the staff of the Cancer Unit for the great care and support they had given to his father and family.
Conor, a pupil at St Paul’s High School in Bessbrook, explained: “I first heard of the Mandeville Unit just over 10 years ago, Christmas 2011, when my father Niall was diagnosed with cancer.
“I recall my father regularly travelling to the Mandeville Unit for his chemotherapy, or his ‘dose of jungle juice’ as I described it.
“The Mandeville Unit is one of the four regional chemotherapy centres in Northern Ireland.
“The Unit, based at Craigavon Area Hospital, facilitates the outpatients’ delivery of chemotherapy and supportive therapies for patients who have been diagnosed with cancer.”
The young student, who has been gaining quite a name for himself in local musical and drama circles, continued: “Not only did the Mandeville Unit look after my Dad, but they gave great support to us as a family and we will be forever indebted to their specialised, care and support we received during the challenges and fears we as family faced with Dad’s cancer diagnosis.
“The CD was a way of me personally showing my gratitude to them all. My family has been overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone who bought the CD and we thank them and all who helped me record and produce it.”
