A Matalan worker lost her leg to cancer after being told she had growing pains as a child.
Megan Squire, from Maghull, was eleven years old when she started suffering from fatigue and pain in her right leg. After being taken back to see her GP repeatedly by her mum, Dianne, Megan was told she had growing pains.
But when the pain continued for the following six months, Megan was referred for a scan which revealed the devastating news she had a form of bone cancer called Ewing sarcoma.
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Megan, who was in her first year at Deyes High School in Maghull, was immediately placed on a gruelling schedule of chemotherapy treatment at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and lost her hair.
Sadly, she experienced an extreme reaction to the treatment and it was initially thought she had suffered a bleed on the brain and had slipped into a coma. Megan’s doctors were particularly worried as they had only seen one other child react in the same way.
However, she made a good enough recovery to continue with the chemotherapy - but the tumour didn’t shrink. Megan was then admitted to the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham where she had surgery to remove her right leg.
Back at Alder Hey, Megan faced a long path to recovery, including more chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant. She had to learn to walk again with a prosthetic leg, until her family raised an incredible £52,000 to buy her a robotic leg.
Megan had to wait until she was 16 to be fitted with the robotic leg which proved to be life transforming. Megan was able to return to school in 2012 having missed a full academic year.
She found getting back to normality a challenge, but remained determined to catch-up and lead a full life. Megan, 23, now enjoys a busy life working at Matalan’s head office in Knowsley and spending time with her boyfriend Nathan who she has been best friends with since they were 16-years-old.
She has shared her story during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to help support Cancer Research UK for Children & Young People, which funds vital research to improve survival and reduce long-term side effects for young cancer patients.
Megan said: "Looking back, it was a really hard time for me and my family. But we had to focus on the treatment and the long road ahead.
"Facing a cancer diagnosis as a youngster is devastating. But I feel lucky to be living a great life now and I have a very different perspective. Research into cancer is vital and has helped me to survive.”
Megan is urging people across Merseyside to clear out their wardrobes, as part of TK Maxx’s Give Up Clothes for Good campaign, to help more children survive cancer. When sold in Cancer Research UK shops, each bag of items donated could raise up to £25 or £31 with Retail Gift Aid.
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital is one of the many centres across the UK taking part in ground-breaking clinical trials coordinated by Cancer Research UK’s Children's Cancer Trials Team. These trials make innovative new treatments available to children with cancer in Liverpool/across the region.
Thanks in part to the work of Cancer Research UK, children's cancer survival has more than doubled in the UK since the 1970s, when just over a third of children diagnosed survived beyond ten years. Today, it's around 8 in 10** - but there’s still much further to go.
Cancer Research UK spokesperson for the North West, Jane Bullock, said: “We’re grateful to Megan and her family for their support. Cancer in children and young people is different to cancer in adults – from the types of cancer to the impact of treatment and the long-term side effects survivors often experience. So, it needs more research which campaigns like Give Up Clothes for Good help to fund.
“We want to help ensure more people under the age of 25 in the North West and across the UK, survive cancer with a good quality of life. That’s why we hope as many people as possible will show their support and donate any quality clothes or goods to their local TK Maxx store. Not only could they help to save lives, they’ll also be reducing their environmental impact by giving their pre-loved items another lease of life.”
For more information about the Give Up Clothes for Good campaign click here.
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