While her mother recovered from breast cancer treatment at home, big-hearted schoolgirl Heidi Davies and her friends pressed on with a sponsored walk to thank the hospital which took such good care of her.

Heidi Davies, of Queen Anne School, York, doing a sponsored walk in aid of Cookridge Hospital, Leeds

Picture: Steven Bradshaw

Heidi, a year 11 pupil at Queen Anne School, York, organised the walk to celebrate the return of her mum, Lesley, from two months of radiotherapy treatment at the Cookridge Hospital in Leeds.

Heidi had received great support from her friends during her mum's treatment and they were delighted to be able to help her raise the money. She said: "I still went to school most of the time.

"Sometimes I had days off because it was a really scary time.

"I had never been away from mum for that long and I was really worried about her.

"My sister Emma looked after me most of the time because my dad works in London, and I also stayed with my friend Michelle, whose mum was very sympathetic about what was happening.

"All my friends were really great and they all wanted to come on the walk to support what I was doing."

Heidi and her friends did 11 laps of the school field which worked out at around four miles.

Although the final figure raised has not yet been counted up, Heidi knows that some of her friends collected about £40 each.

The money will be given to the Cookridge Hospital to be spent on more equipment for the ward her mother stayed on during her treatment.

Heidi said: "When we visited mum in hospital there were lots of other ladies on the ward and after mum got home she was upset to find out some of them had died.

"So I decided to raise some money for the hospital and all my friends wanted to help."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.