When Gareth Evans met Grace Sellers

By Gareth Evans
BBC Sheffield & South Yorkshire

Gareth Evans presents a show every weekday on BBC Radio Sheffield between 9am-12noon. Gareth has been heavily involved in the Kids' Scanner Appeal at BBC Sheffield to raise half a million pounds for a brand new CT scanner for the Children's Hospital in Sheffield.

In October 2009 Gareth met Grace Sellers. Grace was diagnosed with a kidney tumour in 2008 and has gone through numerous operations and treatments to try and remove the cancerous cells. You can read more about Grace's story here. Gareth went to see her at home to see what life is like for her now.

I arrive in Grace Sellers' street in Doncaster. It's in the middle of one of those new housing estates, three roundabouts off a main road. In the cul-de-sac, four or five boys are making the most of their half term holiday kicking a battered leather football through the fallen, golden leaves. Neighbours curtains twitch as I park my car and someone's lunch smells fantastic. So far so very ordinary, but behind the door that I have come to knock on is an extraordinary story.

That knock on the door is answered by Jenny from the Children's Hospital Charity and from behind comes a voice familiar to thousands of BBC Radio Sheffield listeners and with it a very mischievous laugh.

Six year old Grace is colouring at the kitchen table with her brother Evan. Behind her is the wall that has been designated the Art Wall, a place where Grace's artwork is proudly displayed. Her yellow felt tip is the latest colour to be added to the multi-coloured unicorn that she has aptly named Rainbow. The colouring set is a gift from the Children's Hospital Charity. Grace is clearly at ease with her grown up visitors and they obviously, so very obviously, adore her. Looking around, the source of the mischievous laughter becomes apparent; the Sellars' kitchen floor is littered with glittery sequins that came with the felt tips.

After months of chemotherapy Grace lost her hair. Now her treatment has finished her hair is growing back. She has a beautiful gappy teeth smile. For a six year old, conversationally, she seems advanced for her years.

The rather aptly named 'Art wall' created by Grace Sellers

Grace's story can be read here on the BBC Sheffield website, it's an extra-ordinary tale but as I stand supping my cup of tea in the kitchen I wonder how such an ordinary family can be at the centre of it. And I think that that is the essence of the Kids Scanner Appeal. None of us knows whether we'll ever need the new half a million pound scanner at the Sheffield Children's Hospital. No-one can predict whether a loved one of ours will one day have cause to thank every donor who helped raise the cash.

Grace's mum, Sharon, could have had no idea before her family's story unfolded and, if you'll pardon the pun, there but for the grace of God go us all.

The interview that I have come to record and will later play on BBC Radio Sheffield is conducted, at Grace's insistence, in the family's living room. "If not I'll be distracted by Evan and the colouring books," explains Grace. As it happens Evan disappears to watch Cbeebies.

My conversation with Grace is an uplifting and affirming one. To lighten the conversation we talk about Hannah Montana who Grace knows that she and Miley Cyrus are one and the same because "She just puts a wig on". Grace looks forward to Halloween because she'll be dressing up as a spooky pirate and in between the regular banter you would have with a six year old we talk about her experience, the hospital and the CT scanner.

She is remarkably calm when telling her story. The innocence of children can sometimes be their greatest strength; we adults know too much and consider the odds of recovery. Kids just think of their recovery.

I ask about the CT scanner and for the first time since we started this appeal, if I'm completely honest, I have a sense of what the new scanner will actually mean. Not the mechanics, the science, the technology. The tour of the hospital gave me a layman's vibe for how it works. But what does it mean?

It means Grace and hundreds; probably thousands of Graces in the future can get early diagnosis. The baffling spectrum of conditions that are identified by a "ride" in the scanner will be caught early and treated and the children, the hundreds and thousands of Graces can get back to being care free children, colouring in multi coloured unicorns.

Suddenly half a million pounds seems like a small price tag.

Thank you Grace.

You can donate money to the BBC Sheffield Kids' Scanner Appeal via our website. All details can be found here.