A mum has spoken about how her daughter deteriorated in front of her eyes after relapsing from blood cancer before dying at just 15.
Emma Tamplin said her daughter Megan Jones was "tortured with chemicals" during her treatment for the condition which killed both her healthy and cancerous cells.
Megan passed away on Wednesday, February 28 following a long battle with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) which was first diagnosed on her 12th birthday, Wales Online reports.
Emma, 38, said the condition ripped the family apart and forced them to make decisions "of your worst nightmares".
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In a Facebook post the day before Megan died, Emma wrote: "Every time I see her pain, a piece of me dies. Every time she begs me no more and I have no control, a piece of me dies.
"I'd lay on that bed and take every needle and chemotherapy drug if it meant she could be free and live her life."
Megan, from Port Talbot, Wales, complained of back pain and feeling unwell four months before her diagnosis on March 25, 2015.
Following a visit to their GP, the family opted to have an MRI scan done privately which revealed no serious issues.
But after blood tests were carried out at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, followed by a referral to the Noah's Ark Children's Hospital for Wales in Cardiff, she was found to have ALL - the most common type of leukaemia diagnosed in children.
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"Doctors initially thought she had early signs of arthritis of the spine," said Emma.
"She loved playing football and was a really talented central midfielder for both girls and boys teams. She even represented West Wales. We tried doing physiotherapy and yoga with her, but nothing was easing her pain.
"When she was diagnosed with leukaemia on her 12th birthday it was just surreal. We were just left completely numb by it.
"At first I couldn't deal with it, but after a few days I knew I had to take charge and help her as much as I could."
Despite the initial round of chemotherapy leaving her wheelchair-bound, Megan responded well to treatment and by July 2017 she was put into remission and back playing football again.
"She attacked it and attacked it. She did so well," said Emma.
"When she was in remission we had as much fun as possible. She travelled to New York Film Academy to do some photography, and went to loads of concerts and festivals."
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Further tests showed that the childhood leukaemia had been found in Megan's brain.
Emma said: "She was so sensitive to light that she needed complete darkness.
"She was on high doses of morphine because she couldn't cope with the pain."
Following further therapy on her brain, Megan suffered nerve damage and had to relearn how to move, eat and open her eyes.
"The third round of chemotherapy completely wiped her out," Emma said.
"We couldn't take her home last Christmas. She had a lot of mouth ulcers and from then on never really recovered.
"Despite how ill she was she did manage to walk again with a support bar last January. That just shows how determined she was."
Megan and Emma spent a six-month period in Noah's Ark where they were supported by charities Latch and Dreams & Wishes.
After a spell in intensive care, the family made the heartbreaking decision to turn off Megan's life support machine when she failed to improve.
She died on February 28 surrounded by her family, including mum Emma, dad Richard and older brother Morgan, 18.
"We were put in a little room in intensive care where we played her favourite music, put up fairy lights and said goodbye properly. It was so intimate," Emma added.
Almost three months on from Megan's death, Emma is now raising awareness of the early warning signs of ALL.
"The hospital staff were amazing, and Megan built up a real rapport with the nurses," Emma added.
"They would laugh and joke together to make the most out of being there. They became our family.
