For brave Holly Hutchings, it will be the best possible Christmas gift—spending the holiday at home with her family after successfully battling a rare form of cancer. After months of treatment, including 23 rounds of chemotherapy, the four-year-old is looking forward to celebrating the big day with her parents, who describe her as their “little Christmas miracle”.
Holly’s mother Sarah, 28, said, “This Christmas will be very emotional for us. This has made us cherish every precious moment we have. She has been the one who has kept us going, smiling and laughing.”
The family saw their world turned upside down last Christmas Eve when Holly woke in the early hours suffering from pain in her stomach. Sarah and her husband Kyle, 31, an accountant, rushed her to hospital. Tests found Holly had an infection and she was sent home with antibiotics.
Sarah said, “She spent Christmas Day crying in pain. It wasn’t the dream family Christmas I had hoped for.” Finally, doctors found that Holly had a Wilms’ tumour on her right kidney that was pushing her stomach up into her lungs, causing her left kidney to double in size to keep her alive. This type of cancer affects about 80 children in Britain every year.
Holly had a seven-hour operation at Birmingham Children’s Hospital to remove her right kidney. Sarah, who gave up her job to care for her daughter, said, “Throughout it all, she always had a smile on her face and she would enjoy painting while she stayed in hospital. ” To mark the end of her treatment, the youngster was allowed to ring a bell in the hospital in celebration of her bravery. Sarah said, “It signalled a new chapter for us as a family.”
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