IT IS two years since Kim de Min’s son Jamie died at the age of 17 from an aggressive cancer that attacked his vital organs.

It is still difficult for his family but Kim is fighting back by continuing to collect money specifically for teenagers struck by cancer, and raising awareness of how their needs differ from those of other age groups.

She is collecting for the Teenage Cancer Trust at some performances of Cinderella at The Marlowe Theatre, and was given a boost by a sponsored Three Peaks Challenge walk that pupils from Jamie’s former school, Kent College, completed.

She said: “The Teenage Cancer Trust is set up to provide special units attached to the NHS Hospitals.

“Young children have their own wards where they are all together and feel at home, but the teens have to either join the tots or are put, as was Jamie, with a ward with much older men.

“Although most made him very welcome, some despaired over his model remote control car-making and tiny helicopter-flying, quite understandably.

“Young people who contract some of the most aggressive cancers get such a raw deal as, at a time when conformity with one’s friends is everything, cancer makes a teenager stand out in a crowd, not only the loss of hair but also a change in body and face shape.

“Also, many cases are not picked up early enough as symptoms are dismissed as growing pains or sports injuries, as were Jamie’s. We thought the bruising was caused by a rough PE lesson or two.

“Because of the growth spurts of teenagers, their cancers grow faster then other groups and so they are at a great risk.”

Jamie, who lived in Petham, died at the William Harvey Hospital in October 2003. Pupils at Kent College have since raised enough for two memorial benches, one of which was placed, at Jamie’s request, in the grounds of the school near a tree.

Kim’s latest fund-raising drive is specifically aimed at paying for a £10,000 electrical bed for one of the Teenage Cancer Trust’s specialist units.

She said: “These special teenage units increase survival rates by 15 per cent and increase the quality of life for them 10-fold.

“They are equipped with PCs, games consoles, kitchens and facilities for parents to stay overnight.

“I was crunched up in an armchair or on the floor for quite a few nights while Jamie was going through hell with chemo, or during many of the infections that were all part and parcel of the nature of the cancer, and during his bone marrow transfer from his younger brother David.

“The Trust is aiming at 20 units across the country with an estimated cost of £1 million for each, so it’s no small feat to achieve.”

* Anyone wishing to help Kim can contact her via the Teenage Cancer Trust on 020 7387 1000 or visit www.teenagecancertrust.org