When Kirsten Lorde's four-year-old daughter developed as cough and temperature they thought they were dealing with a common cold or flu. Days earlier little Kyra had been laughing and playing happily as the family celebrated Christmas and New Year.
But their lives were turned upside down after they took the youngster to hospital after struggling to get on top of her symptoms and her condition deteriorated. For rather than an easy to treat bug the youngster was given a devastating diagnosis that she was suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia.
And rather than returning to nursery where she was looking forward to playing with her friends after the Christmas break, Kyra remains at Manchester Children's Hospital where she is being given vital treatment. Now her mum has told how without the flu symptoms her condition could have gone undiagnosed for much longer.
Kirsten, from Gorton, told the Manchester Evening News : "If she hadn't have gotten ill, we may not have known and it may have been to late. It is so much to take in."
The mother-of-six, who is expecting her seventh child in weeks, told how Kyra had been suffrering with a temperature and cough. But it was only after she began struggling to eat and then saying her back was sore, that she was taken to hospital for tests.
Doctors then told the family that the youngster had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, a rare and aggressive type of cancer that affects white blood cells. Kyra had been initially assessed on January 2 after being taken to hospital, before being immediately rushed to be treated by specialists after her oxygen saturation levels plummeted.
Doctors began cannulating the youngster and were taking blood tests before she spent the night at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. It was the following day, on January 3, that they were told the horrifying result of the tests.
Kirsten said: "She had a high temperature that we had tried to get on top off with medicine. We had a normal Christmas and New Year and a big family party. Everything was fine. We didn't realise how serious it was and just thought it was a chest infection or flu.
"A couple of days after she started saying she didn't feel very well and had a temperature, but there were so many bugs going around over winter, and she was still eating. On January 2 she just took a strong dive and got very upset, saying her legs and back were hurting.
"We couldn't get on top of her temperature and knew something wasn't quite right, so agreed to take her to hospital, and she just declined really quickly. We couldn't ever have predicted this - it took us by surprise, especially because of how she had been a couple of days earlier, laughing and smiling. It's broken us."
Kyra, who had been excitedly looking forward to returning to nursery to show her friends the tablet and doll that she got for Christmas, has been left "really confused" by what is happening. Kirsten, who is currently on maternity leave, said the youngster is "just wanting to go back home".
Kirsten also said doctors suspected Kyra could've developed the cancer a couple of weeks before Christmas. She has since started chemotherapy, had a bone marrow sample taken as well as a lumbar puncture.
She said: "She doesn't know what's going on. She is really confused and just wants to go home, it's breaking our hearts. When the doctors come in with masks she thinks they're going to hurt her.
"A lot of people have said if we'd have just put it off, like some parents would if they just think it's a cold, it could have been a lot worse. Thankfully, the leukemic cells are not in her spinal fluid and it is curable, but each case is different."
The NHS states that one of the biggest factors that affects the outlook for people with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is their age. The younger a person is when they are diagnosed and treatment begins, the better the outlook. From the available data in England it is estimated that, in those aged 14 or younger, more than 9 in 10 will survive for five years or longer after diagnosis.
Kirsten's sister Stephanie has launched a GoFundMe page, hoping to raise some funds for the family. It has already raised more than £2,500. You can donate to help the family here
