A 16 year-old girl who was diagnosed with a brain tumour after one side of her face ‘dropped’ has tragically died, as tributes pour in from her family.
Emily Kinsella, from Hyde, Tameside, was an “angel” according to her loving mother Karen, who says the loss of her daughter on June 25 “physically hurts”.
Emily’s parents - Karen and her husband Rob - took her to A&E in 2021 after noticing that her face had dropped on one side. Emily had also been suffering from tiredness at the time, occasionally falling asleep while doing work.
She was then diagnosed with a devastating brain tumour aged only 14, and immediately underwent surgery to remove some of the tumour. This was followed by both chemo and radiotherapy - “she didn’t moan once,” said Karen of her “warrior” daughter.
The family had been told by this point that Emily’s cancer was ‘treatable’ but not ‘curable’. While the treatment successfully stabilised her tumour for months, devastating news arrived last Christmas that the tumour had worsened - and another had appeared in her brainstem.
A tumour at the brainstem, the family were told, is inoperable.
Emily, a hugely talented artist, had a deteriorating condition until she tragically passed in June - despite hopes that a drug trial in France might give her some more time.
Karen told Manchester Evening News: “Yes, cancer has taken Emily from us but that's it now, she's pain and worry free, she's no longer paralysed.
“It's taken her from us but it can never take our memories of her, they are ours forever. From day one she was the warrior. She helped us through so many challenges.”
Emily was a “naturally gifted” artist, and was shortlisted as BBC Young Artist of the Year for which she had been called into casting.
“Her love for art and anything arty was a passion, she was always carrying a sketchbook” said Karen, “the BBC were devastated when they found out she couldn't proceed with the programme.”
She was “loyal, loving, caring and fiercely protective” in her friendships which lasted a long time - Emily preferred quality over quantity in her friendships.
A fan of Black Adder, Fawlty Towers, Robot Wars, Top Gear, Clarkson's Farm, Karen says that Emily was a “proper film buff”. The family took it in turns to choose the film for movie night.
“A few weeks ago we sat cuddled up together on her hospital bed in the lounge and watched a lovely film 'When Marnie was There', we sobbed buckets together, a memory forever in my heart. And it will now and always will be my favourite film,” Karen recollected.
Karen says that Emily had hoped to become an ambassador for the Teenage Cancer Trust, even towards the end of her life.
"We’ve loved her, we’ve had her at her best, nursed her through her worst, all with HER help," Karen said. "I will be honest, going on without her is the hardest thing we'll ever have to do in our entire life.
In Emily’s memory, Karen and the family will honour her mission to help other families enduring the pain of losing a child to cancer.
“We pray she’s at peace, we pray she is happy and pray we see her again soon.”
