A little girl who dreamed of being a paramedic has died just weeks after being diagnosed with a brain tumour, leaving her family shattered. Evie-Leigh Cormack, 11, had been looking forward to starting secondary school when the devastating discovery was made.
But she suddenly began to suffer from headaches, sickness, double vision and loss of balance as she prepared to start life at Hartlepool's Dyke House Academy. After she was looked at by doctors, the family was given the heartbreaking news that she had a terminal malignant brain tumour. Known for her 'sass' Evie-Leigh bravely battled her condition, but sadly died this week in Newcastle's RVI Hospital, reports TeessideLive.
Mum Perri-Leigh Littler, 29, dad Matthew Cormack, 31, sister Lillie, 10, and four-year-old brother, Matthew, and the rest of her family and friends have been left devastated by her loss. Perri-Leigh and Matthew said thankfully their daughter, who loved shopping, cinema and caring for the family's five dogs, managed to go to her new school for an hour to spend time with her friends.
They said: "Evie was known for being a little diva, always dancing around doing TikToks, she used to love being the mother figure to her little brother Matthew and was a perfect role model for her younger sister Lillie. She loved to keep her mam and dad on their toes with her attitude and her sass, something that made Evie stand out and something her family and friends would never change for the world and certainly will never forget.
"She was a really bright kid who really got stuck in, her motivation to start secondary school was to get the best grades to enable her to become a paramedic when she left school. She was so pleased when she had the opportunity to spend the day with the emergency services just a few weeks before she passed away and this definitely made her mind up with the career path she wanted to take. She was always a kid that would be there to help anyone."
Shortly after becoming ill Evie-Leigh was diagnosed with DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma), an aggressive form of childhood brain cancer, for which there is no effective treatment and no chance of survival. In a bid to offer practical support to the youngster's family, friends at Hartlepool St Francis FC, where Evie-Leigh's uncle is a coach, have set up a fund-raising page to ease worries of funeral costs.
Donations have flooded in and by Saturday morning (October 22), the total had topped £7,000. Anyone who would like to made a donation can do so here.
