The Bromley family from Dinnington is hoping for a miracle as daughter Lucy, 8, suffers from terminal cancer.
Keen gymnast Lucy should be going into Year 4, but she was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour this March after an optometrist spotted swelling in the back of her eye. She had felt unwell for a few weeks, but medics put it down to flu and then a urinary infection.
However, when a growth was spotted, a biopsy was taken and the previously active and healthy child - she had won medals at a gymnastics competition just weeks before falling ill, was diagnosed with a tumour called a high grade diffuse midline glioma.
The median survival time with a tumour like this is between eight and eleven months according to the Brain Tumour Charity - though around 2% of people live on for more than five years. Facing this bleak prognosis, Lucy's family are now looking to raise thousands so she can take part in a clinical trial which might boost her chances.
Dad Karl explained how Lucy's illness had been very sudden. "She had won a gymnastics competition just two weeks before she was diagnosed," he said. "In March this year she got a bit of a headache and some flu-like symptoms. It just seemed to go on for a bit longer than we would have expected.
"The doctor basically said there was a flu going around and we should monitor it. We did that - and a few days later she perked up a bit, but then she started being sick. The hospital said she may have a urinary infection."
But after further tests, nothing was found in her urine, so Lucy and her family were told there may be an issue with her vision - and they went to an optometrist. "They saw some swelling in the back of her eye, that's when we went back to the hospital and got the news that she had a tumour," Karl said.
"The very next day she was having a biopsy taken. Five days later they came back and said she had a terminal brain tumour. From there it's been ups and downs - they basically told us there was nothing they could do. That completely shocked me.
"Unfortunately my wife's dad has passed away too. It's been an absolute nightmare."
The family are sadly no strangers to trauma, in 2010, Lucy's mum Katy lost her sister, also to cancer. Karl said: "It feels like it never-ends - what have we done to the world? We try to be a giving, caring family."
The family understand that for Lucy to be able to take part in the trial they'd like, they'll need to spend upwards of £170,000. That'd be for a treatment called "CAR-T cell immunotherapy" which is being trialled for children's brain tumours by a hospital in Seattle, in the US. A preliminary publication about this trial in the journal Nature Medicine said that in participants so far the treatment had been able to "activate a localized immune response in paediatric and young adult patients".
Lucy is also currently taking a trial medication which costs her family around £1,000 a week. Karl added: "My daughter has had two further surgeries. I think the first was to try and remove as much as they possibly could, unfortunately because of the location of the tumour it's not very easy for them to get at and they weren't able to remove as much as they had hoped."
Karl said that while the NHS - and especially staff at the RVI where Lucy is a patient - had been "superb", there was little available for his daughter. He added: "The fundraising is because unfortunately these trials do not come cheap. It's showing a 30% chance of some success. It's not a cure but there are some really positive results.
"I know there are trials which have begun to show some positive results in a small proportion of cases. That'd give us a chance. Some of the kids out there are going into their third year - at the end of the day that's better than nine months. And hopefully something new may come out.."
Karl, a data analyst, added that Lucy was fortunate to have a supportive family around her - including younger sister Lily, 7, who "absolutely adores her" and is also a keen gymnast. He added: "I don't know many people who could just fork that money out. We have to find ways of doing whatever we can do.
"At the moment she has just come out of surgery around three weeks ago which was to put a implant a drain in her head. I think she has reacted positively to that."
Debbie Hutchison, a family friend and parent to one of Lucy's closest schoolmates, is taking part in a Goggins challenge - taking on 12 four mile runs every four hours over a weekend in October to fundraise to help Lucy. On her fundraising page she said: "After each operation and radiotherapy round she has bounced back, smiles her way through and shown sheer determination and resilience. She is an absolute warrior."
To support Debbie's crowdfunding for Lucy Bromley, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/debbie-hutchison-2
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