We’ve all heard of the saying ‘paint the town red’, but do you know why Burgess Hill was covered in gold throughout the month of September? Well, most people know pink represents breast cancer but not many know gold represents childhood cancer, and Turn Burgess Hill Gold with Superhero Son Sebastian was all about raising awareness of the disease last year, but will return; bigger and better than ever this September.
We spoke to Natasha Penney, the mother of Superhero son Sebastian who was diagnosed at just 18-months with rhabdomyosarcoma of his bladder and prostate, to find about more about the campaign and the importance of raising awareness.
Can you tell us a little bit about Turn Burgess Hill Gold, and what it represents?
I was inspired by Hassocks who went gold in 2019 in memory of Pearl who sadly passed away due to childhood cancer.
The aim for the campaign was to turn the town as gold as we can and raise as much awareness as possible, as well as raising money for the charities that supported us. The town were fantastic and a number of shops put gold items in their windows in support of our campaign.
We also had fantastic support for local businesses and companies who sponsored ribbons which we put up around St John’s Park, Worlds End Park and throughout the town. It was wonderful to see so many people supporting us.
The Round Table sponsored a lot of the event which required a lot of man hours making up the ribbons, buying spray paint, letters, leaflets etc and we are very grateful to them.
Can you tell us the story behind Superhero son Sebastian?
The name Superhero son Sebastian came about after our son Sebastian was diagnosed with cancer at such a young age. At the time, I was so sheltered I didn’t even realise children could get cancer. However, during his horrendous treatment plan Sebastian kept us going. If a nurse wasn’t near him or he wasn’t in pain he smiled and laughed the whole time.
Sebastian was our very own superhero.
He often will say Superman is his favourite superhero because he helps people but he also calls the nurses that cared for him superheroes as he knows they helped save his life.
How important is it that we raise the awareness of childhood cancer?
It’s so important to raise awareness, there has been so little research that our babies are being subjected to horrendous treatment plans and medication which is leaving them with life limiting conditions.
There have been around 7 new medical treatments in 77 years for children with cancer. We had no idea what to look out for with childhood cancer and it took a lot of time to get Sebastian diagnosed.
Constant paleness, tiredness, aches and pains are all common signs but these can also be mistaken for general illnesses. If you have concerns keep seeking help from medical professionals.
We refused to leave the hospital until an ultrasound was completed after 5/6 A&E visits and it’s only then that we saw the mass in his tiny bladder.