A proud sister and cousin duo have reached heavenly heights after taking on a 190ft abseil from the roof of the city’s Park Regis Hotel last weekend, in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity.

13-year-old Serenity Saunders, from West Bromwich, and her cousin, 15-year-old Connor Bird, harnessed up to tackle the daunting drop in support of Serenity’s big sister, Heavenly (17), who has been under the care of Birmingham Children’s Hospital for the last 11 years.

When she was just six-years-old, Heavenly became incredibly poorly and was tragically diagnosed with Ependymoma, a type of brain tumour that affects the central nervous system. After her life-threatening diagnosis at her local hospital, there was no time to spare – she was quickly transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital by critical care ambulance.

Having already been put into a medically-induced coma, when Heavenly arrived at the specialist paediatric centre, doctors wasted no time in taking her straight to theatre where she underwent an 11-hour-operation to remove as much of the tumour as they could, to relieve pressure on her brain.

The surgery saved Heavenly’s life and after rounds upon rounds of both chemo and radiotherapy, plus months of intensive care, physiotherapy and rehabilitation from the specialist teams at the hospital, she was thankfully declared cancer free.

Following her illness, Heavenly has unfortunately been left with a series of complex health conditions, including Poikilothermia, a rare condition which means she is unable to regulate her body temperature. Despite that, she has never been scared to dream big and push herself. Heavenly’s inspirational traits have rubbed off on her sister and cousin, who pushed their fears aside to tackle Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity’s annual abseil in Heavenly’s honour.

Serenity said: “It’s been 11 years since Birmingham Children’s Hospital saved my sister’s life and we’re thankful every day. The hospital has been a second home to our family ever since Heavenly got poorly and when we heard about the abseil, we thought it would be a great way to say thank you for the fantastic care we’ve all had.

“It was scary stepping over the edge, but Heavenly has taught us to be brave and it felt amazing once we’d done it.”

Miranda Williams, Head of Public Fundraising at Birmingham Children’s Hospital Charity, said: “Our abseil at the Park Regis Hotel was our highest yet but Serenity and Connor took it in their stride and made it look easy! So far the event has seen us raise an incredible £19,000 for our sick kids, and we’re so grateful to Serenity, Connor and all of our supporters for showing such bravery and courage in aid of brave patients, just like Heavenly.”