Town's football family rally round popular mother after cancer diagnosis
Thousands of pounds are being raised to help give a little boy lasting memories of his mother who has terminal cancer.
Married mum-of-one Danielle Jones has been given the news which has devastated not only herself and her family, but also her Shropshire footballing friends who have nothing but praise for her.
Natalie Trevor, secretary of Shifnal Town Ladies, say they will do whatever they can to help Danni, her husband Owen and their one-year-old son, Harry, make lovely memories in Disneyland. A Go Fund Me campaign has raised £8,000 of a £10,000 target to support the young family.
Natalie said: "Danni is such an amazing person, she is the player that every manager and every team needs. She is the mum of the team, doing everything she can for us. She helps the manager and even collects our fines.
"She wants to do what she can to raise awareness.
"We do not know what we are going to do without her. We are a family and she has been with Shifnal Ladies and Wrockwardine Wood before that.
"Her reaction to the news that she has terminal cancer has taken me back. She has turned up at games and played and then turned up and stood on the touchline. She so much wanted to keep on playing."
Danni has been diagnosed with breast cancer that has spread to her liver.
A cup game on December 4 was the last time Danielle played in a game when she came on for the last 15 minutes. "I think she realised then that she wasn't playing anymore," said Natalie.
Now the football community in Shropshire is rallying round Danielle, with offers of support from rival clubs as well as the Shifnal Ladies themselves.
"The ladies are being amazing, and everyone wants to give to Danni," she said.
Two fundraising campaigns are on the go at the moment. One is to raise cash for a cancer charity, and another, a crowdfunder, aims to help the family make memories, and so husband Owen does not have any money worries when he has to look after Harry on his own.
"The amount of support has taken us back," said Natalie. "There is all sorts going on with teams, and the FA. People are really coming together for something that matters, including our rivals at Telford United.
"You start crying when you think there are good people out there," she added.
There are a number of ways to help raise funds.
The Shifnal Town fundraiser can be found at fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/team/shifnal-town-ladies.
The crowdfunding page to pay for the Disneyland trip can be found at gofundme.com/f/danielle-jones-magical-memories.
Danielle herself has posted online: "Not what I really wanted to be posting but I wanted to put this on here so that everyone knows and no-one is asking my family or friends questions that they might find hard to answer.
"We've not had the best few months but I've finally had all of my results back.
"I've been diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer which has spread to my liver. There is no cure for this, it will be just having chemo to keep it at bay.
"But you can be sure I will be fighting this as hard as I can for myself, my little boy, Owen Jones and my family and friends they can't get rid of me that easy."
