A mum has told of her devastation after finding out her daughter kept falling asleep because she had a brain tumour.
Karen Kinsella from Hyde, Greater Manchester would come home to find her 14-year-old daughter Emily asleep while she was supposed to be doing school work during the pandemic.
A couple of days later, Emily developed a headache and her mum noticed her face had drooped on one side.
She was told to go to A&E immediately after sending a photo of Emily's face to a GP. A scan confirmed she had a brain tumour, leaving Karen feeling completely "numb".
They were told the tumour was "treatable" but not "curable" and she was referred to the Christie Hospital for radiotherapy.
She was scheduled to start a 12-month course of chemotherapy, but this was delayed after she suffered a bleed on her brain and contracted shingles.
Mum-of-two Karen told the Manchester Evening News : "Emily was the only person in Manchester to finish the course of chemotherapy.
"Most children's bodies couldn't tolerate it for more than six months. She didn't moan once."
After completing her course of chemotherapy, the tumour was stabilised for a while and Emily was able to live a relatively normal life.
Karen said: "She couldn't go back to school but her art teacher kept in touch and she went into school some lunch times to see her friends.
"Emily was actually shortlisted as BBC young artist of the year before all of this. When she finally got the call to come into casting it broke my heart as the reality that her life had changed hit me."
Shortly before Christmas, Emily developed problems swallowing and tragically discovered the original tumour had returned, and a secondary tumour had appeared at the brain stem, making it inoperable.
Karen said: "The Christie did agree to do 10 sessions of radiotherapy at a lower dose, but then she ended up in intensive care because she couldn't breathe and was placed on oxygen.
"She was there for six days and we were told to prepare for the worst twice. By this time she had pneumonia and her lung had collapsed. But she just didn't give up.
"They thought she wasn't going to make it. Her friends all came to say goodbye. We were all crying by her bedside.
"Then all of a sudden she began breathing on her own and they were able to reduce her oxygen. The doctors and nurses said it was a miracle."
Emily's family are mow having to drive 12 hours to France every month to receive a trial drug, at a cost of £3,900 per month.
Karen said: "The hope is that it will keep Emily alive until something comes along. It won't cure her but it could prolong her life and that's all we want for her.
"We'd like to get Emily on the drug for a few months and then we will turn our focus to start lobbying the UK government so that she can access it here.
"It's not just the money, it's the travel to France. It's the time off work and you just have to put your life on hold. We will find the money, even if we have to sell the house."
Emily, who lost one of her close friends to cancer last year, is now helping to raise awareness of brain tumours to other teenagers, and the treatments available.
Her mum added: "She won't be able to go back to school so she just wants to be able to help others. The focus for us now is this drug.
"We just want to keep her alive long enough for a miracle. If we can keep her alive for a year or two, who knows what treatments can come through in that time."
You can donate to a fundraiser for Emily's treatment here.
