By Sarah Slater
Erin McGregor, sister of UFC king Conor, has started a floss dance challenge in a desperate bid to raise money to help save the life of a teenager she has been secretly helping.
The Mum of two who was a contestant on RTE’s Dancing with the Stars has been helping Robyn Smyth from Whitehall in Dublin deal with all her medical issues and encourage the 13-year-old to remain upbeat despite having 10 years of treatment.
Robyn has been fighting aggressive cancer, neuroblastoma, since the age of three and has undergone treatment here and in the US.
Her Mum Bernadette emotionally revealed, she cannot do any more for her daughter without more funds despite the teenager having two good scans in the US over the past several months.
The family is facing a €300,000 upfront bill for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York and Robyn will be the first Irish person to be admitted on to this trial at the New York hospital if they can get the money raised in time. The family has managed to raise €70,000 so far.
When Erin heard Robyn’s Mum was finding it “very difficult” to raise more funds she decided to get involved in the floss challenge.
Erin has taken to social media in the challenge called Floss4Robyn.
She said: "I’m doing this floss challenge she really needs your help. It’s actually a difficult dance to do. Now that I’ve taken part in it I’m nominating James Kavanagh and James Patrice.”
James Kavanagh, the social media personality and who has more than 100,000 followers on Snapchat while James Patrice a former leader on RTE’s TV show Operation Transformation.
Erin’s video has already been watched more than 2,000 times on the Facebook page, Robyn’s Life.
Robyn was given just a 30 percent chance of surviving when she was first diagnosed.
It was when the Dublin girl’s chances of survival dropped to five percent, three years ago and was told by Irish doctors to bring her home to die, that her family decided to fundraise to take her to US-based Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Michigan.
In between her visits to the US, of which she has been on more than 70 flights since 2015, Robyn continues to take chemotherapy tablets and has blood tests and other related treatment at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.
The brave teenager was given just a 30 percent chance of surviving when she was first diagnosed 10 years ago.
Robyn’s family and friends have fundraised tirelessly to raise several hundred thousand euro to cover medical costs over the years.
Bernadette said: “It’s absolutely wonderful that Erin has gotten involved. We are really hoping the Floss Challenge takes off and captures the imagination of people.
“The problem we face day in and day out is keeping Robyn’s scans clear for long enough to be accepted on to a new medical trial in New York which is hugely expensive.
“If we don’t get the money together soon then Robyn will lose her place on the trial. It’s as simple as that. All the efforts from the medics in Michigan to keep her alive and to get her to the stage of getting her onto the New York trial will be in vain.
“The longer it takes to get the money for this trial then the more likely it is that Robyn won’t be well enough. It’s just never-ending. It’s a ticking time bomb waiting to go for all of us. I’m trying to do my best to keep myself together for us all but it’s proving very tough.
“If anyone can help please text Robyn to 57802 with the and nominate some people to take up the challenge. They can also get in touch on [email protected] or donate.ie/robynslife," added Bernadette.
