“Isla loves swimming, dancing, watching films, fairies, unicorns, crafting, and animals – she has two pet cats. We enjoy going to the farm, zoo and going on nature trails.

It was March last year when we noticed a lot of unusual bruising on Isla, and suddenly she became very pale and tired. I checked her over and noticed many of her glands were swollen. Isla’s symptoms started escalating very quickly so my husband took her straight to A&E at East Surrey Hospital.

I am a veterinary nurse, and I felt like I knew it was cancer straight away. They did a blood test and a scan straight away, and within an hour of arriving at hospital we were told that Isla had T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Hearing the news that Isla had cancer was like being hit by a bus – it was like an out of body experience – you just don’t think these things happen in real life. We were in total shock and the bottom of our world very quickly fell out. It was all so sudden -Isla had been perfectly fine, running around at Pizza Express and at a friend’s house earlier that very same day.

As soon as we received the diagnosis, the hospital arranged a transfer to St. George’s Hospital and from there we went to The Royal Marsden.

Isla was put on steroids straight away, but they caused tumour lysis syndrome, a potentially life-threatening condition caused from the breakdown of cancer cells, releasing their contents into the bloodstream. Isla was rushed to intensive care where she stayed for three nights. Once she was back on the ward, we were transferred back to the Marsden – there was lots of traveling to and from hospitals and home.

Intense chemotherapy sessions lasted nine months and we are now in the maintenance phase of Isla’s treatment, which consists of monthly chemo at hospital, daily chemo at home, and weekly blood tests.

In May last year, the side effects from the steroids stopped Isla from being able to walk and she was using a wheelchair for five months. The hospital was brilliant, starting physio straight away and they gave her a walker to use at home.

Overall, Isla has responded amazingly to her treatment. Her bone marrow biopsies showed that she was in complete remission after seven weeks, but her treatment plan stayed the same as leukaemia has a tendency to hide. Isla is due to complete her treatment on 22 April next year.

Isla is still very young and was only five years old when she was diagnosed. We have always tried to be as honest with her as possible and St. George’s Hospital gave us some wonderful books which helped explain everything in a way she could understand. Isla embraced everything and she made the decision to cut off her hair and donate it to The Little Princess Trust.

The very first time we were at St. George’s Hospital, Isla was in a hospital room decorated by Momentum. She loved it – it had a woodland theme with deer painted in the scene. One of Momentum’s Family Support Workers came to introduce themselves to us, but at that point, everything was quite a blur, and we were just trying to get through each day.

A bit further down the line, Kerrie, another Family Support Worker from Momentum, introduced herself to us at East Surrey Hospital. She briefly explained the support Momentum could provide, and we arranged a meeting at our house to go through everything in more detail.

Kerrie and the team at Momentum have been amazing. They arranged counselling sessions for me and my husband which have really helped us. I never thought I would need counselling, but it has been so worthwhile.

We have stayed at Momentum’s Shorefield Country Park respite cabin and are about to have another short break there – we can’t wait. We are going on their riverboat this summer too – I know the kids are going to love it! Kerrie has arranged special days out for us to the Fairy House in London and to London Zoo. Whenever we are at East Surrey Hospital, Kerrie will check in with us and she is always in touch by phone too.

Last summer I bought a swing set for Isla and her brother Reuben as I knew we wouldn’t be able to get out to the playgrounds because of the risk of infection. Kerrie was with us when the swing set arrived, which was much bigger and more complex to set up than I had expected. Kerrie made it her mission to find a company to help renovate an area of our garden and erect the swing set. Stepnell Construction came on board and did this, free of charge, even laying artificial grass – they were brilliant. We kept everything a surprise for Isla when she came out of hospital.

Isla was out of school for 11 months, missing a lot of reception and year one. For us, waiting until Isla was in the maintenance phase of her treatment before going back to school was the right thing to do. Isla’s school have been incredibly supportive – they arranged online maths and literacy lessons, and we did a lot of home schooling.

Before Isla returned to school, we had meetings with the teachers, and they made a document with all her needs. Isla initially went back to school on half days but returned to full days before we knew it. She wasn’t worried about going back, in fact she strolled in as though she’d not missed a day, waving us off and shouting ‘freedom!’

Despite only having a 36% attendance record this year, Isla is above expected standard in both literacy and maths – we are incredibly proud of her.

Before she returned to school, the teacher sat down with her classmates to tell them a bit about Isla’s illness and that she didn’t have much hair, but none of the kids have batted an eyelid.

Isla has recently been enjoying lots of afterschool clubs including Zumba, swimming, and dance. It is great to see her energy levels so high again. She was able to participate in Sports Day at school and really enjoyed the races.

My message for any parent who is worried about their child’s health would be to trust your gut instinct – I knew there was something seriously wrong with Isla and I was right.”

Story taken July 2025.