Doing fine, the little fighter who had days to live

Specialists told her mother Emma they couldn’t treat the tot’s brain tumour and all they could do was relieve the pain as she lived out her short life.

But days before she was expected to die, child cancer specialist Eddy Estlin saw a slight improvement in her condition. And after 11 hours of surgery and 15 months of chemotherapy, Maisey, now 21 months old, has staged a magnificent fightback.

Legal secretary Emma, 25, said: “He had a look at her and said, ‘She’s a ­little fighter. I’m going to take her back to hospital.’ Suddenly we had hope again.”

The nightmare began last year when single mother Emma took ­Maisey to the doctor after noticing the top of her skull was swollen.

Meningitis was initially suspected but tests ruled that out. It was only when relatives insisted on a scan that they discovered a large tumour growing on Maisey’s brain stem. Her family was told nothing could be done and she was taken to Derian House child­ren’s hospice in Chorley, Lancashire.

But then Maisey received a visit from Dr Estlin, Manchester Children’s Hospital consultant paediatric oncologist. He said: “The tumour was causing big problems and we thought she would rapidly deteriorate. But when I visited Maisey at Derian House, she was looking a little bit better.

“The team took the decision to operate and surgeon Ian Kamally completed a very long operation.

“Now, following chemotherapy, the scans show she is recovering. While Maisey’s future is not certain – we don’t know if it will grow back – she’s staged an astonishing comeback.”

Emma, of Wigan, said: “It has been really tough and she has been in and out of hospital.

“She was meant to have started physio a while ago but she was too weak. She was also meant to have another two rounds of chemotherapy but the doctors decided she’s had about as much as she can take.

“It is a big relief that we are through that and the doctors say she will be very unlucky if it comes back.”