Jacob Ziff Races To Raise Thousands for Leeds Children’s Hospital
Jacob Ziff, a survivor of childhood leukaemia, has raised nearly £30,000 for Leeds Children’s Hospital Charity. The 21 year old student has made it his mission to give back to the staff that helped him through the illness as a teenager.
Jacob was diagnosed with leukaemia at 14 years old and received treatment from the Haematology and Oncology Department at the Leeds Children’s Hospital. Following his diagnosis, he spent three-and-a-half-years undergoing chemotherapy, including two intensive treatment periods and over 30 general anaesthetics, at the hospital.
Now fit and healthy and studying at university, Jacob wanted to do something to show his gratitude to all those that helped him through his illness. Joined by his cousin Henry Ziff, Jacob recently ran the British 10k in London, raising money through sponsorship for his efforts.
Jacob said: “The team at Leeds who looked after me were truly amazing and I would not be here today if it wasn’t for them; through their hard work and support for children and teenagers with cancer. Running is really important to me, keeping my mind and body fit and healthy in contrast to the trauma I experienced seven years ago. Six years ago it was amazing to see my cousin run the London Marathon to support Leeds whilst I was undergoing treatment, so now it feels quite monumental for us to be completing this run together.”
Jacob has raised the money in order to support the major refurbishment project that Leeds Children’s Hospital is about to undertake. The project is designed to improve the care that is given to children from Leeds and the surrounding areas.
Leeds Children’s Hospital Charity supports all the work of Leeds Children’s Hospital, one of the largest children’s hospitals in the UK. It has over 300 beds, eight dedicated surgical theatres and a workforce of 1,200 committed staff. They provide care to more than 250,000 children and young people each year and perform in excess of 10,000 surgical procedures annually.
Leeds Children’s Hospital Charity is part of the Leeds Cares Charity Family, supporting all the work of Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Leeds Cares CEO, David Welch, says Jacob is an inspiration to many at the charity.
“At Leeds Cares we’re all about people inspiring people. Jacob has managed to go through a very challenging period of his life and come out of the other side not only positive about his experience but wanting to give something back to benefit others. The children’s hospital provides incredible care to lots of patients like Jacob and I’m delighted that the sponsorship he’s raised will go directly towards helping others like him”.
To read Jacobs story and still donate, please visit: justgiving.com/ziff