A group of schoolchildren have banded together to run a race for a nine-year-old classmate who is receiving treatment in America for a rare form of brain cancer.
Gosforth schoolgirl Lily Jha's family was devastated to learn she had a rare form of brain cancer called DIPG back in July 2020. It is one of the most aggressive, difficult-to-treat brain tumours and the leading cause of brain tumour deaths in children.
Her parents Vineet and Jing were told to "go and make memories" with their daughter, but the determined parents vowed not to give up and started fundraising for potentially life-prolonging treatment abroad. And last year, the family flew to Seattle for treatment.
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Lily remains in America and while her speech and movement are "very limited", the bubbly schoolgirl is still in high spirits and always has a "smile on her face". But despite her positivity, the Archibald First School student is desperately missing school and her friends.
And so, to keep Lily smiling, family friend Rhian Planchant and other parents came up with a touching way to honour Lily all the way from Newcastle. Lily's school friends ran the Children's Cancer Run on Sunday with badges with Lily's face to let her know they're "thinking of her".
Rhian said: "There are a group of mums and we have always tried to raise money and to raise awareness and make sure that Lily, knows even though she is in America, that we are all thinking about her. We've tried to keep that going all the way through.
"When she first went out we were doing video calls with her friends but as the time has gone on her communication has got quite poor but we're trying to keep the messages going for her.
"We have sent over parcels and letters and gifts. Just before Christmas, one child's name was pulled out of a hat and they would do a special video message for Lily. They would be dancing and singing and Lily loved watching them.
"The school always does the cancer run and we thought although we're not raising money for Lily we can just let Lily and her parents know we're all thinking about them. Lily will be so happy and it will mean a lot to her parents."
Lily's parents originally believed the change in their daughter’s behaviour was due to boredom during lockdown. But when her family noticed that she was struggling to walk in a straight line during a trip to the park, Lily was rushed to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, where an MRI scan revealed she had DIPG.
Rhian said Lily misses her friends but despite everything, she is still positive adding she "amazes us all". She said: "Lily is such a clever little girl and she absolutely loved school. She misses her friends and she misses school, they're the biggest things for her. Her parents tried to get her into the school in the hospital and she did that for a while but she got too poorly.
"We can't do anything to change what's going to happen but as parents, we can make sure Lily and her parents know we're here and we're thinking about them.
"Lily has a good quality of life even though her speech and movement are very limited but she's still got a smile on her face and she's still playing games with her parents and she's still playing with her toys, she just amazes us all."
Lily along with school friend Akshara Sharadaprasad wrote and illustrated their very own storybook called 'Max and the Dragon Sword Quest' with all money raised being donated to Lily's fundraising cause. If you'd like to purchase the book, you can do so here. Or to donate to Lily, just follow the link to her Go Fund Me page here.
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