A brave Scottish schoolgirl who lost her hands and feet to a deadly sepsis battle has defied the odds to fulfil her dancing dream - after also winning a fight against leukaemia.
Little Olivia McCord, from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, left her parents in tears as she took to the stage with a pair of ballet shoes on her prosthetic legs last month.
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The six-year-old’s parents, Sammie MacCann, 27, and Lloyd McCord, 28, were overcome with emotion as they watched their darling daughter perform - just months after fearing they could lose her forever.
The proud mum told the Mirror : "When Olivia was on stage dancing it was something that we never thought we would see. She's not let losing her legs stop her.
"She wanted to be a dancer and she knows her own mind. We are so proud of her - nothing holds her back. To see her put on her ballet shoes and dance like this is amazing."
Sammie, a horse groomer, and Lloyd, a site manager, who live in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, took Olivia to hospital in May 2020 when they discovered a lump on her neck.
She'd had sniffles and odd bruising for the previous 18 months but doctors said she would have had picked them up while playing with her friends. But then she fell ill after a routine immunisation and was taken to Queen Elizabeth University hospital in Glasgow.
Sammie said: "She had a bit of a cold and a temperature, then a few days later she developed a lump on her neck and her breathing became difficult. She had blood tests done and then she was taken to the operating theatre to have a breathing tube in."
Two days later doctors told the devastated couple that Olivia had leukaemia. The next shock came two days later when they were told she was also battling sepsis. It had been caused by a strep A infection which started in her neck then spread.
Sammie said: "It was a huge shock. Cancer had never even crossed our minds, and then to have sepsis on top of that too was awful."
Olivia started on powerful drugs to beat the sepsis, but her feet and hands started to go black as the drugs closed off the supply to peripheral blood vessels to help keep her organs functioning. Sammie said: "Some of the sepsis drugs that were keeping her alive also have side-effects, including closing off blood to the outer vessels.
"So they had to amputate. Olivia was upset at first. To help her understand I worked with a child psychologist at the hospital to make up a story about Bertie bear who had to lose a leg because it was sick. I read it to her for three days before her operation."
Olivia had surgery in which doctors had to amputate both of her legs below the knee, her left hand, and also some of the fingers on her right hand. When she managed to overcome the sepsis infection doctors then had to start fighting the leukaemia and she has undergone two and a half years of chemotherapy treatment.
Sammie said: "She has really been through it. She had prosthetic legs fitted once her wounds had healed, but it took a long while for her to get used to them.
"Her legs were sore and she was tired from all the treatment too, so it seemed as if she was never going to learn to walk on them. But then about 12 months ago, she really turned a corner and started to find it much easier. She always dreamed of being able to dance, and ten months ago she started at a dancing school and loved it."
Sammie added: "She took to it straight away. She had spent months in a hospital room unable to see anyone because of Covid, so it was great to see her taking part with the rest of the dancers."
Olivia was so keen to learn to dance that she first started to try it without her legs to get her balance as that's what she had grown used to. Then she progressed to more complicated dance moves with her legs on. Watching the older girls at her dance class was a real inspiration for her. Olivia herself said: "I love to dance because I get to move around and do cool flips."
Sammie added: "When she took part in the dance show, it was a moment we didn't think we would see. She's now also started gymnastics and cheerleading too.
"She may have two prosthetic legs, but she certainly doesn't let it hold her back. She's come on in leaps and bounds over the last 12 months. It's been a long hard battle, but now she's really come out the other side.'
This week Olivia had her final treatment and she is now in remission from leukaemia. The family has been supported by the John O'Byrne Foundation, which works with Scotland's sickest children to give them unforgettable experiences and memories with their families.
Mr O'Byrne, who set up his foundation in 2014 after volunteering in hospitals, added: "Olivia is an amazing little girl and touches the hearts of everyone whom she meets."
Her mum added: 'Hopefully we can put cancer behind us and move forward with her life now. And Olivia can concentrate on her dancing. She finds her own way of doing things and is willing to try anything.
"She's beaten sepsis and now leukaemia too. Nothing is going to stop our girl."
For further information please visit the Sepsis Trust site here.
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