A family whose four-year-old daughter is battling lung and liver cancer have praised the NHS for carrying out major surgery in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Pierce family, of Long Eaton, said the lung operation was performed on their 'unicorn'-loving daughter, Alyssa, so she is fit for a liver transplant.
Parents Matt and Vicky Pierce were delivered the devastating blow of their daughter's diagnosis on the day of their son Jacob's seventh birthday last summer.
Project consultant, Matt, 36, said the cancer - Hepatoblastoma and Bi-lateral Pulmonary Metastasis - is extremely rare with only up to 10 cases a year in Britain and less than 100 across Europe.
The four year old, who loves unicorns and the colour pink, has had rounds of chemotherapy to battle the disease, with experts from across the globe trying to get her better.
On February 6, she went into Queen's Medical Centre for six and a half hours of surgery to remove 15 nodules on her right lung.
Then, on Thursday, March 19, she underwent more than five hours of surgery to remove eight nodules on her left lung. She is currently on a ward at the hospital.
Mr Pierce told Nottinghamshire Live: "They have got her high on the list and given her every level of care that they can. To do what they are doing and keeping it together is just incredible."
The family have been informed "not to think too far ahead" and are hoping she will be accepted for a liver transplant once a further three nodules are removed from her right lung over the coming weeks.
He said: "We are taking one step at a time because they need to get her though this and get her lungs cleared before they can accept her as a transplant candidate for a new liver.
"They want to give her the best chance they can."
Talking about what keeps the family positive, he said: "You normalise it and it becomes part of your life and you have to embrace it."
He said their daughter's attitude has helped the family through their hardest times, and Alyssa has become their "inspiration."
He said: "She has a 'va va voom' and X Factor about her. She does everything with a bit of attitude and does not let things faze her.
"She is four, she was scared going through surgery, but she pushed her own bed into the anaesthetic room. She is just dealing with it.
"She is brilliant and just carries on. We, as a family, find inspiration in her."
