Panthers Fight Cancer: How local ice hockey fans are making a difference

Over the past few years, we’ve worked closely with our friends at Nottingham Panthers to support the Oncology Unit after their beloved former General Manager, Gary Moran, sadly passed away from cancer in 2021.

We were delighted to invite the Panthers team over to the Oncology Unit at City Hospital to meet the team who they have been raising money for, as well as introduce them to the machine that their incredible fans and their donations will help go towards.

Players and staff from Nottingham Panthers were joined by members of the Oncology team including Professor Srinivasan Madhusudan and Dr Lucy Gossage. Panthers Fan Liaison Officer, Lisa Rawding, who has helped us throughout the partnership, said: “It was great to get some of the team down to the hospital to see how the fundraising is going.

“We’ve had incredible support from the fans all season and their backing for any fundraiser is always fantastic. We’d like to thank everyone for their superb backing.”

Joanne Burr, Community and Corporate Fundraising Manager at Nottingham Hospitals Charity said of their visit “It was fantastic to be able to show the team at Nottingham Panthers the impact of their fundraising as part of ‘Panthers Fight Cancer’ in November and showcase the new device that they will help fund to benefit patients undergoing chemotherapy.

“We are looking forward to supporting the team again in April as they raise money for the Hayward House Appeal. Their fans are always incredibly supportive and have raised over £77,000 since they started fundraising for Nottingham Hospitals Charity.”

Steve Henaghan, Specialty General Manager from the Oncology Unit, spoke about the impact their fans will make: “Thank you to the players, staff and fans of the Nottingham Panthers. Your fundraising, support and donations mean that those battling cancer within our community will have access to new and innovative equipment to make a tangible difference in their lives. “

On 25^th November 2023, the fans helped raise £12,563 for the unit during one game; this was raised through sales of a limited edition jersey and a raffle to win jerseys worn by the players during the warm-up. The kind donations raised will go towards helping to fund a Hilotherm machine, which helps patients who are undergoing chemotherapy, by reducing their risk of peripheral neuropathy that causes numbness and tingling in the hands and feet.

Katharine Stein, Director of Hilotherm helped bring the first device to Nottingham hospitals. She said:

“When patients undergo chemotherapy they can experience a tingling and burning sensation in their hands and feet which can not only affect the way they walk or use their hands but can impact their daily living and hobbies.

“For example, we’ve had patients who were surgeons and were incredibly keen to go back to that after their chemotherapy was complete to a lovely lady who really wanted to make sure she could continue to embroider after her cancer treatment. The machines help preserve the hands and feet from the damage that can be done due to the chemotherapy drugs.

“When people think of chemotherapy, they automatically think that someone will lose their hair but they don’t necessarily think of the side effects that happen within the body such as the nerve damage, so these machines can really help patients long term.”

A huge thank you to Nottingham Panthers and their fans for their continued support over the past few years. If you would like to help patients with cancer by enabling us to fund more equipment like the Hilotherm, you can donate here.

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