An 'amazing' young girl is 'always smiling' despite being given a devastating diagnosis.
Faye Jennings, six, was diagnosed with Bronchiolitis obliterans after a near-death experience just weeks after her birth, reports CheshireLive.
But despite being able to "lead a normal life', Faye was then diagnosed with an aggressive form of blood cancer when her parents noticed "strange veins" on her chest.
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Faye's dad Mike is currently raising funds for Alder Hey Children's Hospital as without them, the youngster would "not be here today".
Back in 2016, when Faye and her twin sister Lucy were just six-weeks-old, Faye suddenly stopped breathing but was brought back thanks to her quick-thinking mum Louise who immediately administrated CPR.
After three months in high dependency, she was eventually diagnosed with whooping cough and now has a rare lung condition called bronchiolitis obliterans and takes daily medication.
But thanks to Alder Hey's respiratory team, Faye was able to live a normal life up until 2020 when she was diagnosed with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
This is an aggressive blood cancer and has involved over 500 doses of different kinds of chemotherapy, lumbar punctures, biopsies and many more things a "little girl should not have to go through".
She still has about 12 months left of chemotherapy treatment.
Dad Mike said: "The cancer was completely unrelated (to her other condition), it was just described as 'bad luck' by the specialist.
"This is a girl who has just been through everything. Everything is always against her but she always comes out the other side laughing and smiling.
"She's got an identical twin sister (Lucy) - they're as thick of thieves. They're so happy, it's amazing. She's become an inspiration and changed me in terms of my perception of life.
"Sometimes I wake up, feel tired and want to moan about the day but when I see her just laughing away and going to school, I just think 'no I can't say anything'."
The 42-year-old is now raising funds for the children's hospital in a bid to give something back.
Mike, who works as a police officer in the road crimes unit, said: "It was a really difficult time because before this happened it was the first lockdown.
"I had to move out for four to five weeks because of the risk of bringing Covid back to Faye. It was really difficult but then we got the good news that lockdown had finished. Faye was about to go to school and life was almost getting back to normal.
"Then within two weeks she was diagnosed with cancer and it was clear life wasn't going to be back to normal - it was never going to be the same again."
But he says despite going through more than many people do in a lifetime, Faye still manages to laugh and smile.
This includes when she had to comfort both Lucy and her eight-year-old brother Kaiden after Faye recently broke her arm while she was playing.
He added: "Even on her bad days, she's got this laugh that can make everyone else in the room laugh. It's easy for me to say because she's my daughter but you just look at her and think 'wow, she's just amazing'. She can just crack on and have fun.
"When she broke her arm, we said we had to take her to hospital and her brother and sister started crying, which just shows the amount of trauma they've been through as well.
"Faye straight away was really comforting, saying 'it's alright, it'll only be a little trip and I'll be back'. She's six! She should be playing around and doing princess things, not being sensible like that.
"Her smiles give everyone else energy and the fight to get through this battle - a battle she has always had ever since she was a baby."
Mike will be part of a team of 10 who will be taking part in the Manchester Born Survivor assault course event on May 7 to raise money for Alder Hey Children's Hospital.
He said he wanted to raise funds because he wants to "thank them implicitly" and a lack of funding due to covid mans there will "probably be a shortfall at some point".
More information about the fundraiser can be found online by clicking here.
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