A Puppy for Ben
Ben Herbert was only 5yrs old when he was diagnosed with High Risk B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.
During this period Ben endured a huge amount. He underwent intensive treatment for the first 8 months, with gruelling results – he lost 10 lbs in 4 days, was hospitalised and placed on morphine as a result. He endured 13 blood transfusions (each lasting at least 5hrs). Sometimes Ben was 6 days a week in Crumlin hospital for chemo therapy and took over 160 chemotherapy tablets a month to keep him alive and the doses increase as his height and weight increase.
Ben received his National Children of Courage Award in November 2014 from the Share a Dream Foundation and his dream come true was to have his own Black Female Labrador puppy, which he planned to call Molly. However, Ben couldn’t get the puppy until after his treatment finished in July 2015 and he was in remission so his mum felt his 10th birthday was the perfect time to surprise him!