A girl from Downe Village is set to be crowned as May Queen after winning her battle with cancer and starting her own line of adaptive pyjamas for children in hospital with cancer.
Betsi Powley, aged 10, is due to be crowned as Downe’s May Queen on Sunday, but this isn’t the only achievement she has recently celebrated.
At age nine in November 2021, Betsi was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, and received a course of treatment including 14 chemotherapy treatments and six weeks of radiotherapy at the Marsden Hospital in Banstead.
Betsi’s mother, Tori Powley, described her daughter as a “trooper” and expressed immense pride when she was finally able to ring the bell in November 2022.
The 40-year-old said: “What a trooper she is, she rung the bell in November just gone.
“The cancer pushed her heart across the other side, it squashed her lung, she had quite a battle.
“But she's through it and it's a real accomplishment.”
During her battle with cancer, Betsi and her mother documented her journey on her Instagram account, which has grown to have almost 100,000 followers.
Tori said that the support Betsi received during those harder months undergoing treatment helped Betsi during the more difficult parts of her cancer journey.
Tori said: “When she was having her chemo, her following was just going up and up, and that was the thing that was making her happy.
“Because she knew that people loved her and reading all the nice messages, it really just kept her going.”
However, the mother and daughter duo now use their Instagram to showcase Betsi’s new and ongoing goal for the future.
During Betsi’s time in hospital, she noticed how pyjamas were not adapted to suit children undergoing cancer treatment.
Driven by this realisation, Betsi worked to design a range of adaptive pyjamas, making it easier for children with ports and other medical devices when receiving treatment in hospital.
The pyjamas include adaptions such as holes for medical staff to access ports and PICC lines as well as plastic poppers so they can be worn during X-rays.
Tori said: “Betsi designed her own pyjamas, adapted pyjamas, so it could be comfy and for the children.
“We've been fundraising for it and now Betsi fundraises to go and give these pyjamas out to children in the hospital.”
The pyjamas are funded through donations made by people who purchase a hoodie from their brand known as Real Eazy.
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The funds from each hoodie purchased on the Real Eazy website will go towards funding an adaptive pair of pyjamas to be donated to a child receiving caner treatment.
Currently Betsi has made donations to children at the Royal Marsden in Banstead, as well as University College London hospital, Croydon hospital and Pembury hospital.
Tori explained that their goal for the future is to continue to raise funds.
Tori explained: “We'd like to get a pair of pyjamas to every child battling cancer in the UK.
“That is what we're trying to do, that is our aim.”
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