A couple who noticed bruising on their toddler's eyelid have been left heartbroken after receiving a devastating diagnosis.
Harper Walker was just 13 months old when her parents spotted the unusual mark, but initially thought it must have been caused while she was playing with a toy. However, when the bruise kept growing and started to push her eye out of shape, mum Jenny Huddart and dad Adam Walker immediately took the tot to the GP.
A few weeks later, their whole world come crashing down when Harper was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a rare cancer that affects just 100 children per year. In another cruel blow, tests showed that the disease had progressed to stage four and already spread throughout the youngster's body, Manchester Evening News reports.
Mum-of-five Jenny, from Swinton, said: "Harper was born with hip dysplasia and to to be in a cast until last December and started moving more after that. We noticed in mid-February a little black dot near her eye but because she had been starting to move around more we thought she'd just hit herself with a toy.
"It started changing a bit but we thought maybe she had just rubbed it. But, then we noticed her eye starting to move up, like she had a lazy eye, and we took her to the doctors.
"At first the doctor wasn't concerned and said to come back in two weeks if it hadn't gone but by that point it would have been five weeks. The day after we called to get a referral to an eye specialist but that was going to take another week as it had kept changing shape so we called 111 who told us to go to Salford Royal.
"They straight away told us we needed more tests but they don't have the right eye specialists at that hospital so sent us to Manchester Eye Hospital. We went in on Good Friday and Harper was admitted for tests and went home.
"On the Monday we got the phone call from the doctor asking us to go in where we were told they had found a lump in her sinuses. And then a biopsy confirmed and we were told Harper had stage four cancer. Further tests showed it was an aggressive form of Neuroblastoma."
Describing the moment she was told the diagnosis, Jenny said: "It was as if it wasn't happening. We felt numb. We started Googling things even though you're not supposed to and saw the stats for this which aren't great.
"Apparently it's something that originally grows while she was a foetus, but there was no way of knowing about it until the little bruise appeared. We were told by people who've been doctors in this area for 33 years that they've never seen it present like this, we knew something wasn't right when it started to move her eye. It's just awful."
Harper was started on a gruelling 18 month course of treatment with chemotherapy and surgery to give her the best chance of beating the disease. She will also receive stem cell treatment and radiotherapy as part of this.
Now, Jenny and Adam are hoping to get Harper to the Sloan Kettering cancer centre in New York, where a new form of treatment could increase her chances of survival by 60 to 70 per cent. However, the treatment alone costs £280,000 and the family will also need funds to make multiple trips to the US.
Dad Adam set-up a JustGiving page yesterday (May 28) with a fundraising target of £300,000 for the potentially life saving treatment. So far, almost £13,000 has been donated, with the family "overwhelmed" by the amount of support they have received.
"We reached out and spoke to someone who has gone through this too and they have been so helpful. But, they said you have to travel out a lot as well as the costs of the care so it is very expensive, but we want to give Harper the best chance we possibly can," Jenny said.
She continued: "It's just heartbreaking. She's a dead happy child who's always smiling. We really want to give her the best chance to fight this.
"Over the past month we've only had six nights at home, with the rest of the time at the Manchester Children's Hospital. The staff and everyone there have been absolutely amazing and all the parents there help each other out. The people are just wonderful.
"It's been very difficult for the whole family, especially Harper's three brothers and sister. It's very unsettling for them, being in and out of hospital. But, we're trying to be as positive as possible for them, not going into the full extent of what is going on yet.
"The doctors have been really pleased with how it's gone so far so we're trying to be positive as possible with the kids. We're just all still coming to terms with it really, taking each day as it comes, there are good and bad days.
"We've just got to hope and pray."
To read and keep up with the full fundraiser, visit the Just Giving page here.
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