Cancer transport costs 'takes off so much stress'
BBCA mother and daughter who relied "on the kindness" of people to give them lifts to cancer treatment visits said they "wouldn't be anywhere without them".
The government has announced it would set aside £10m a year to pay for children and young people's travel costs up to the age of 24, which can run into thousands of pounds during the course of treatment.
Alexa, 14, was diagnosed with diffuse large B cell lymphoma in October and was given the all-clear in January.
Her mum, Coral Perkins-Bell, said she could not have afforded the trips from their home in Brough, Cumbria, to the cancer facility at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVI) in Newcastle.
Alexa, also called Lexi, said finding out about her cancer diagnosis was "very emotional" but added that "once I got to the hospital, I just accepted it".
She said the hardest thing about the treatment was how it led to illnesses and mouth ulcers.
Her mum said: "It was awful - you just don't think it's going to happen.
"Everybody at the RVI who has helped us has been really good."
Expensive journeys
She said they had been helped by the charity Young Lives vs Cancer and they were "very reliant" on lifts to the hospital from family and friends.
Perkins-Bell said it "would have been so expensive" if it "wasn't for their kindness".
"If Lexi got a temperature we would have to rush back at all times of night, which included a neighbour giving us a lift near midnight one time," she added.
She also said it had been "very difficult but added that Lexi was "such a strong girl".
Long and expensive journeys for treatment are common with child cancer patients normally referred to one of 13 specialist centres in England.
Research suggests families pay £250 a month on average to fund hospital journeys, and charities report some go into debt to fund treatment.
Perkins-Bell said the new government scheme was a "great idea because it takes so much stress off people".
"If we didn't have such a good community around us, I don't know how we would have afforded it," she said.
She also said she was "over the moon, so so happy" to learn that Lexi would recover and had the all-clear.
