Derbyshire mum’s face was “sore” with tears during tot’s four-month brain cancer ordeal

Bobby-Lea O’Donnell’s daughter Ellie-May was diagnosed with a rare Grade 3 ependymoma brain tumour aged 18 months old and underwent three separate bouts of surgery to treat the cancerous growth.

She is currently undergoing her last week of proton beam therapy at The Christie in Manchester to prevent the tumour from returning – under general anaesthetic five days a week for six weeks.

Mum-of-three Bobby-Lea, 31, said: “Because she has to have general anesthetic she has to be nil by mouth every day which is the difficult part because she doesn’t understand that she can’t have a drink or anything to eat every day.”

Though Ellie-May’s tumour has been removed and radiotherapy has been given to stop the cancer spreading, there are no guarantees it will not return in the future with her chances of surviving a recurrence “slim” – leaving Bobby-Lea and partner Adam Shirley ”hoping” it won’t come back.

Speaking about the experience, Bobby-Lea said: “It was horrendous, we did nothing but cry for days and then it was weeks before we found out whether it was cancer or not. Everyone was just crying the whole time. A lot of it is a blur and I don’t remember.

"I don’t remember family coming to see us. It’s the fact she’s a baby and can’t tell you what’s wrong, it was just awful. The only thing she kept saying all the time was ‘help me, help me’. The only thing I can remember is my face stinging from crying so much, my face being so sore."

Weeks before Ellie-May’s diagnosis the tot, of Somercotes, was vomiting every morning and constantly sleeping. Bobby-Lea and Adam were told the symptoms were due to a viral infection or reflux. However when she stopped eating or drinking Ellie-May was admitted to King’s Mill Hospital A&E on November 22 and an emergency MRI scan uncovered the tumour.

After being transferred to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre the baby had an external ventricular drain fitted to remove fluid from her brain before the tumour was removed during 12 hours of surgery on December 3. However, back at home after being discharged the infant went downhill again and so was readmitted to have more fluid drained.

"There are no words to describe it,” said Bobby-Lea. “When it’s your child and there’s nothing you can do to make it better. Having to tell the other children too. No parent should have to go through it. I want to make people aware because you do think it will never happen to you. People should be aware and look out for the signs, listen to their gut. It’s been an eye-opener for us.”

Now at the end of her treatment, mum Bobby-Lea says Ellie-May is beginning to walk again and seeing a return of her speech, both of which she had lost. She added: “Seeing how positive she is makes me feel more positive. We’re right at the very end.

“She’s so full of it, she’s got two big sisters that she runs rings around. She’s so happy all the time, even with what she’s going through now. She’s definitely the boss of the family.”

The family has started a fundraising campaign to fund a better summer for Ellie-Mae and give something back to the “amazing” staff at Queen’s Medical Centre. Anyone wanting to donate can do so by clicking this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/our-elliemaes-story/cl/s?lang=en_US&utm_campaign=fp_sharesheet&utm_content=amp13_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&attribution_id=sl%3A0ede1b1d-692a-4f07-8662-90a30a390f5d