A BRAVE Pershore youngster who is battling acute lymphoblastic leukaemia will be jetting off to Disneyland Paris in September with her family thanks to the overwhelming generosity of town businesses and caring friends.
Lily-May Filmer was diagnosed with the cancer on May 5 last year and begun her treatment at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital soon after and faces a further 17 months of gruelling chemotherapy in her bid to beat the illness.
The treatment has so far seen the brave six-year-old battle liver abcesses and now a blood clot in her chest but mum Kayleigh told the Observer the youngster was proving to be a source of strength for her family.
“She is doing really well, it’s just the complications from the treatment which is causing problems such as the blood clot in her chest,” she said.
Kayleigh said the family were left devastated by Lily-May’s diagnosis in 2017 and said her illness had impacted on everyone. The proud mum has even had to stop breastfeeding her 12 week old new arrival because of the frequent trips to hospital.
“You don’t know when she will need to go to hospital and how long she will be in for. The latest visit saw us get home at 9.30pm on Wednesday night so as well as what Lily-May is going through, me, my husband and my three other kids are also affected,” she said.
“You see something on the television and wonder how you would cope and then your child is diagnosed and you can’t help think, ‘how didn’t I know?’
“If you know something isn’t right, keep going back to the doctors and don’t be afraid of getting a second opinion.”
Kayleigh paid tribute to all those who raised money for the Disneyland trip which included Nick Stevens at Fire and Ice Insulated Panel Solutions, Stuart Marler at Pershore Building Landscaping and Fencing, The Talbot at Knightwick, Stu Blunsom Tree Care Services, Carl Waters at CJW Landscaping and Daniel Townend at Townscape Building and Construction.
Keith Boulton at K.W Boulton Tree Care Specialists, Scott Ellis at Mechanical Pipework & Fabrication Limited and RTJ International dug deep as did Wayne Hall at Two Rooms Evesham, Paul Hallen at P.H Heating, Steve Colenutt aka Steve The Barber and Dan Hirons at Vale Windows.
Kayleigh also thanked Glenn Deary, Neil Annis, Mark Kay at Costcutter, Sam’s Mobile Tyres and Shawn Parsons at Pershore Tyres.
They were inspired to act after Pershore Town Football Club licencee Jacqui Marler put the Lily-May’s battle on Facebook during the heavy snow which blighted the country last month and raised an incredible £900 in one evening which has now increased to £1,000
“They were all snowed in and bored so probably went on Facebook and saw the appeal and donated!,” Kayleigh said.
“I am so thankful to everyone, we would never be able to afford this alone so thank you to everyone who has helped.
Jacqui is now organising a race night in aid of Children with Cancer UK at Pershore Town Football Club on Saturday, May 5 – coincidentally one year exactly since Lily-May was diagnosed.
“We will get to do something together as a family, we have coped and as a family we have got stronger,” she added.
What is acute lymphoblastic leukaemia?
ALL is most common in children and young people up to the age of 25, and in older adults over 75
Symptoms include:
* looking very pale, feeling very tired or becoming breathless easily
* feeling generally unwell and run-down, perhaps with a sore throat or mouth
* painful joints and bones
* having various infections one after the other
* unusual bleeding, because of too few platelets, including bruising without any obvious cause,
* frequent headaches.
Symptoms may appear very quickly over a few weeks. If you have any of these symptoms you should have them checked by your doctor, but remember they are common to many illnesses other than leukaemia.
