More than 500 people have come together to make a mother’s wish come true. Shifnal Town Ladies’ Danielle Jones was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer last year which has spread to her liver, making her sickness terminal.
Her wish now is to take her two-year-old son, Harry to Disneyland.
Jones’ teammates started raising money for the trip earlier this month, and the goal of £10,000 was met within just three days.
Jones was overwhelmed and amazed at how her teammates, family, friends, and the rest of the football community has come together to share her story.
Teams from up and down the pyramid and across the country took to social media to show their support, including fierce rivals AFC Telford. Liverpool Feds FC were also seen wearing pink bibs at their training session in solidarity.
“I can’t put it into words at how grateful me and my family are for everyone that has donated,” Jones told Her Football Hub.
Jones’s gritty journey towards her diagnosis was a long and painful process. She went to see a doctor on 12th September 2022 for a swollen armpit, where she was given antibiotics that never really worked.
Jones then found a lump and was referred to the breast clinic. After four weeks, an ultrasound showed that there was nothing to worry about, other than just glandular tissue. However, about two weeks later, Jones felt that one breast was almost double the size of the other and nurses on the phone urged her to call back if it was warm to touch, which it was two days later.
After a misdiagnosis of mastitis and back and forth conversations with nurses and her GP about the urgency of an appointment at the breast clinic, an ultrasound was done about a week after she found her breasts were hot to touch.
Jones said: “The lady was brilliant but she said she couldn’t see anything in my breast to drain, so she scanned my armpit and found two swollen lymph nodes. On the following Wednesday, I had a phone call to say I can go in to see them. The doctor told me I had cancer.”
After a PET CT scan, Jones was given the news on 9th January this year that the cancer had spread to her liver. There was no cure, and treatment could only keep her sickness at bay.
Due to begin chemotherapy on 17th January, Jones said: “I have carried on as normal. There’s no point in me sitting there crying about it, as it isn’t going to change anything. These are the cards I have been dealt so I am going to fight this with all I can.”
Jones, who is a married mother-of-one, believes that Paris Disneyland would be an amazing experience for her son. While her husband has been to the amusement park in his earlier days, Jones and her son will be experiencing the movie magic for the first time.
“When I am well enough, we’re hoping to do lots of family days out and enjoy each and every day,” she said. “We’d also love to go and stay in a lodge at the West Midlands safari park.”
Jones also has the ultimate dream of meeting the Lionesses with her football family at Shifnal. Former England star and current assistant coach at Birmingham City, Jo Potter showed her support on Twitter, offering to donate memorabilia to any fundraisers.
While the original goal of the Gofundme was £3000, the enormous support pushed Jones’ teammates to raise it to £10,000 to provide her and her family an all-expenses paid trip.
As of 18th January, almost £14,000 has already been raised, with one anonymous donor even donating £980.
The crowdfunding page can be found here.