The parents of a little girl thought that she was poorly with the flu. Kyra had a temperature, a cough, and was having difficulty eating just days after Christmas.
But one morning after waking up complaining of a sore back, her parents Kirsten and Josiah, from Gorton, took her into hospital to be checked over by a doctor. They could never have predicted the devastating diagnosis that was to follow.
Smiley little Kyra, who is just four-years-old, was initially assessed on January 2, before being immediately rushed to be treated by specialists after her oxygen saturation levels plummeted.
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Pregnant mum Kirsten, who was desperately trying to organise childcare for her other five children, raced to the hospital and arrived as doctors were cannulating the youngster and were taking blood tests.
"We just wanted them to do whatever they could," she told the Manchester Evening News. "They had been taking blood samples and doing lots of tests to find out what the infection was and what was wrong with her."
It was then that doctors told them that they suspected Kyra could have leukaemia.
"We couldn't believe it. There was just no way," Kirsten added. "There were loads of different illnesses going round, especially with children catching Scarlet Fever and lots of people catching the flu. Even the possibility of it being that was devastating."
Kyra spent the night in Manchester Children's Hospital with parents Kirsten and Josiah by her side. It was the following day that they were handed the devastating news that tests had revealed their little girl had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, a rare type of cancer that affects white blood cells. It progresses quickly and aggressively and requires immediate treatment.
"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," Kirsten said.
"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 was excited to return back to nursery to show her friends the tablet and doll that she got for Christmas, has remained at Manchester Children's Hospital for the past nine days. Mum Kirsten, who is currently on maternity leave preparing for her seventh child and due to give birth within weeks, said the youngster is 'really confused' and 'just wanting to go back home'.
Kirsten claims doctors told her that Kyra could've developed the cancer a couple of weeks ago. She has since started chemotherapy, had a bone marrow sample taken as well as a lumbar puncture.
Over the next five weeks, the youngster will remain in her hospital bed receiving rounds of chemotherapy to see how her leukaemia reacts to the treatment. She will also have regular bloods taken, with treatment possibly lasting up to three years.
Kirsten added: "We kept asking the doctors if there was anything we could've picked up on. They told us she could've had it for up to two weeks. 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.
"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. See here.
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