The parents of a young girl who kept coming home from school with bruises have talked about their devastation at finding out what was wrong with her.
Initially suspecting that their daughter Eva was fighting at school, Scott and Katrina Thornley remained perplexed as to why she was constantly covered in bruises. At a loss, they took her to see the doctor and get a blood test. Tragically, the results revealed that Eva was suffering from leukaemia.
“It’s like your whole world crumbles,” Scott, 40, told the Manchester Evening News. “All the worst possible scenarios were going through my mind.
“You just assume the worst straight away as a parent. I felt grief to be honest; it didn’t look like it was affecting me but inside it killed me.
“Her sister recently went for a blood test and found out she had a vitamin D deficiency, so we thought it might have been a lack of vitamin D. We asked how she got the bruises but she didn’t know. We thought they were from having a fight in school. We didn’t think at all, not even in the slightest, that we would go to hospital and it would be leukaemia.”
Eva, from Tyldesley, was immediately transferred to Manchester Children’s Hospital following her diagnosis. She was then placed on a 10-day chemotherapy course due to the aggressiveness of her cancer. Sadly, the intense treatment means she has lost all of her hair.
Despite her tragic diagnosis, Eva’s family say she is “still smiling and happy,” having just celebrated her 10th birthday on Friday (August 19). “We’re going to spoil her,” window cleaner Scott said ahead of the big day.
“The kids on the ward are so happy and they just get on with it. They’re not like adults. Eva’s hair has fallen out now because of the chemo, but if you met her and spoke to her, you wouldn’t think anything was wrong with her.
“When we got tested, they rang us at 10.30pm at night and said we needed to get to hospital straight away and alarm bells started to ring then. That’s how serious it was.
“They warned us that when you walk onto the ward, you see kids with no hair, and it hit us like a ton of bricks. You don’t get sent there for no reason.”
Though Eva celebrated her birthday on the children’s ward, her family are hopeful the St George's Central Primary School pupil can return home for a couple of weeks in between treatments. “Knowing your child has to go through what she’s gone through... all we have is positivity,” Scott added.
“That’s all we’ve got. There’s nothing whatsoever I can do to help my child. It’s an aggressive cancer so we’ve got the treat it aggressively.
“She had 10 days of chemotherapy, it’s a lot for a child to take. Even after 10 days she’s still smiling and happy. It’s just a horrible situation, but it makes me proud to be her dad.”
Eva’s sister Lily, 14, has since set up a Gofundme appeal to raise cash for every child on Eva’s ward. She’s hoping the money can go towards buying them a new toy, sweets or a game.
The teen held a charity walk on August 17 around Tyldesley and has so far managed to raise almost £1,000. To donate, follow the link by clicking here.
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
