A young Scots girl diagnosed with brain cancer after an eye test has completed her treatment.
Kara McInally, 7, told her mum that she was having headaches and had a migraine in 2021 who thought she may need glasses.
Mum Laura, 34, took Kara for an eye test and while there, the optician noticed that there was something behind Kara's eye.
She was immediately referred to University Hospital Hairmyres in East Kilbride, where a scan confirmed the growth beneath her skull.
Just four days later, on December 11, 2021, Kara underwent major surgery to remove a 4cm, 'size of a golf ball' tumour from her brain.
Laura told the Daily Record how the family dealt with the devastating diagnosis.
She said: "We were just focused on each hurdle as it came. Firstly we thought 'right, she has a tumour in her head, she has to have it removed' and decided we' would just take it from there.
"But then we had to explain to Kara that she had to have a major operation on her brain.
"We had to say that it meant she had to have her head cut open and have something removed from it."
Kara's family were told there was a 20% chance that she wouldn’t talk or have mobility problems after the surgery, but it was later discovered that there was no impairment on her brain.
Laura said: “Thankfully Kara came out the other side of the surgery and the treatment the exact same way she had gone in.”
After 38 general anaesthetics, 33 rounds of proton beam therapy, seven cycles of chemo, six MRIs, five platelet transfusions, four blood transfusions and three surgeries, Kara left the Schiehallion unit of Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Children, on August 24, 2022.
After being clapped out the ward, her family and friends were waiting outside as a surprise.
At the beginning of the diagnosis, Kara had been very embarrassed and ashamed of her feeding tube when at school.
She kept her cap on at all times except when at home but now the 7-year-old comfortably plays with her friends without it.
Now, she has even asked to be taken to school, just two days after she finished her seventh and final cycle of chemotherapy.
Her mum said: "Her confidence has come back, it's amazing to see. Several months ago she didn’t want to go out the house without her hat on and didn’t want anyone seeing her tube and had her hand over her face.
"Now she’s going to school and playing with her friends. She’s matured through it - I don’t want her to mature so quickly but she has. "
Kara is known as a 'Sassie Wee Lassie' on the Instagram page her mum set up to follow her journey.
Laura explained: "The one word everyone describes her as and what we dub her as is 'sassy'. She has got such a lot of attitude.
"She is a bit of a teenager at 7 already and is displaying teenage characteristics, which isn’t great, but it's got her through this. It’s given her a bit of a feisty attitude. Whenever something says ‘sassy’ on it, our family buy it for her it.
"She is a bundle of energy. She has been defying the odds and hopefully, she continues to defy the odds with her diagnosis."
Laura noted: “Without the amazing surgeons, the radiographers, the doctors, nurses, support staff, the play therapist and councillors, our little girl wouldn’t be here to celebrate this momentous achievement”
For Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September, Laura is taking part in the 60 Challenge for Young Lives vs Cancer.
The challenge involves either walking, running, cycling or swimming 60 miles per day for 30 days.
You can visit Laura’s fundraising page here: https://m.facebook.com/donate/1242896373136185/.
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