East Sussex mother demands job security whilst her daughter battles cancer

Christina Harris’s daughter Skye was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia in December 2021, leading to the mother-of-two quitting her job to help save her child's life.

Christina wrote on her GoFundMe page: "Our world was ripped apart and our lives turned upside down in a split second and we had a very long (2 and a half years) awful journey ahead to save her life. As any parent would do, I dropped everything to be by her side 24/7.”

"My life was now medication, chemotherapy, non stop hospital appointments, general anaesthetics, lumbar punctures, bone marrow biopsies, sickness, temperatures, countless admissions to hospital, blood infections and the list goes on and on and worst of all, I had to watch my little girl go through things no child should ever go through.”

Christina left the job she had loved doing for 19 years, but soon found out there was no law to ensure her employer kept the job open whilst she supported Skye through the two-and-a-half-year treatment plan to save her life.

Christina wrote: "My employer did keep my job open for a year, but with a two and a half year treatment plan in place to save her life, constantly having to isolate due to her very low immune system, several hospital admissions etc. there was no way I could return after that year.”

"I now have no financial security ahead. The anxiety, fear and emotional strain put on parents, already fighting for their children’s lives, could easily be avoided.”

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Christina started a GoFundMe page in June this year to help with financial support, which has already received more than £10,800.

Christina has also called on people to sign the national petition set up by herself, calling on the government to make it a requirement for employers to offer career breaks for parents with a seriously ill child.

The Peacehaven woman said: “Losing my job and jeopardising my family’s financial security should not be part of this awful journey.”

The petition currently has 76,829 signatures. At 100,000, it will become a matter debated in parliament.

In July, the government said it had no plans to introduce a right to take a career break in these circumstances.

Their response read: “The Government understands the difficulties, worry and challenges faced by parents with seriously ill children. While the Government is very sympathetic, it is not practical to provide a specific right to take time away from work to cover every challenging situation an employee may face.

“Many employers are already very supportive when people find themselves in these situations, The Government currently has no plans to introduce a specific right to take a career break for parents with seriously ill children.

“However, the Government is supporting legislation which will provide support for parents, including those caring for ill children or facing other difficult circumstances.”