A five-year-old girl offered reassuring words as her mum prepares to undergo cancer treatment. When Hollie Brown told Edie-Grace she might lose her hair, the little girl replied, 'You’re still our mummy even if you look different and we still love you'.
Mum-of-three Hollie was diagnosed with breast cancer in May 2022. As reported by Leeds Live, she initially found a lump in March.
After various tests she was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). She has since had her left breast removed and is undergoing chemotherapy, radiation and hormone treatments.
Following her diagnosis, the mum from Bramley in Leeds created a blog about her cancer journey. She's become an advocate for checking your body, often urging her followers to keep an eye out for anything suspicious.
It was on her blog she shared how her five-year-old daughter offered the words of encouragement. "It made me think I am still me," said Hollie.
"It doesn’t change me as a person. I’m still the same loud mouth silly person I am and this cancer will not defeat me."
Hollie's sister Jennifer Clarke, who lives in Stanningley, has set up a fundraiser to help the family with bills while Hollie is missing work. It's also to help raise money for a professional wig.
Hollie is an NHS clinical support apprentice. With the cost of living crisis and less money coming in from both her and her husband, her sister wants to give her peace of mind.
"She’s had to put her studies on hold now and she wasn’t far off completing them which is awful," said Jennifer, 34. "She’s been off since and will be off for a while.
“With her having the chemo, there is not a right lot I can do to help. We can’t take the cancer away, but we can help with the kids."
As well as helping with childcare and bills, Jennifer also wanted to make sure Hollie was comfortable when she loses her hair. A real human-hair wig can cost between £500 and £1,000.
Jennifer said: "You can get cheap wigs but they look like fancy dress, I wanted to do something for her that they weren’t worrying and stressing.
“She used to do a lot of night shifts and her husband has had to take three weeks off to help with her recovery. I can’t just give her that money, so I set up a GoFundMe and within a day we hit half the target."
Speaking about Hollies' blog, Jennifer said: "Hollie’s been very strong, she is so raw and open about it, she doesn’t just post the positive stuff. She is my sister, I am in absolute awe of her.
"She is very out and open is our Hollie. We have a massive family and even if nobody listens to or reads the blog that doesn't matter, it's a way to get her emotions out there. It's so important to her."
And she said she was overwhelmed by the response to the fundraiser. “To every single person that has donated, I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart," she said. "They just don’t realise how much of a difference it will make.
"She’s struggled a lot with her body and dealing with it not looking it like it did before. I am just so grateful. I know things are expensive these days so even those that are just sharing it, I am forever grateful for that too.
“They don’t know how much it means as a family or to our Hollie. I just want to raise as much as I can for her to ensure she doesn’t have to worry."
To donate to Hollie's GoFundMe click here.
