September is childhood cancer awareness month. Never in a million years did we think that this September our awareness of childhood cancer would become so personal. On 18th September 2026, our world changed forever when our beautiful one year old daughter Clara was diagnosed with ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia).

Clara has always been a happy and healthy baby. It's been amazing seeing her progress from strength to strength throughout the first year of her life. Shes hit every milestone early and has grown into such a strong, independent, clever, and funny little girl, who is a wonderful little sister to our amazing 3 year old Alice. As her mum, I never really worried about Clara. She was my 'easy child'. She fit into our family seamlessly.

At the beginning of September, we noticed that Clara appeared more lethargic than usual. She didn't want to play as often, and was off her food. This coincided with her big sister Alice starting pre-school, so we put it down to separation anxiety at first, due to the close relationship between the two of them. Slowly, Clara began to look unwell; she was paler than normal and had started to lose some weight. We took Clara to the GP. The GP advised us that she likely just had a virus and had probably picked it up from her sister in the 'back to school bugs' that always circulate in September. We monitored Clara over the following week to see if she would get any better.

A week later, Clara was still not well. As her mum I just knew something wasn't right. I remember saying to my mother, Clara's nanny, that there was something really wrong and I was worried she may have something bad like leukaemia. It felt crazy to even say out loud, and obviously I wished to be proven completely wrong, but a mother knows when something is off with her child. To any mums or dads reading this, always listen to your gut and trust your parental instinct.

I took Clara back to our GP surgery on 18th September 2026. I explained to the GP that Clara was pale, lethargic, not eating, and upset in herself. I asked for blood tests. The GP listened to my concerns and referred us, same day, to the Seahorse Ward in Noah's Ark Children's Hospital in Cardiff for some tests. After over 14 hours in the Seahorse Ward seeing several doctors and having multiple tests, we were given the devastating news that Clara had blood cancer, specifically, ALL. We were transferred to the children's oncology ward to start immediate treatment, and we remain here currently.

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia is an aggressive cancer that usually affects children, particularly those age 1-4. It does have a good prognosis rate with chemotherapy treatment, but the treatment is intense and must last a minimum of 2 years. We have a long road ahead of us, but we remain hopeful that our clever and strong girl can fight this disease. As parents, we are going through the unimaginable. In the past week alone we have had to consent to and witness Clara receive several medical tests that no parent should ever have to experience for their child, let alone their one year old baby. Clara has undergone surgery, had a Hickman line fitted, an NG tube fitted, she has had a bone marrow aspiration, a lumbar puncture, she has had a blood transfusion, a platelets transfusion, and several doses of chemotherapy. The medical staff here have been absolutely outstanding; despite us never ever wanting to have been in this situation, the amount of empathy, expertise, hope, compassion and dignity all staff here at Rainbow Ward have shown us has been incredible. We cannot thank the team enough for all the help they have provided, and will continue to provide to us on this journey.

Chemotherapy treatment cannot distinguish between the bad cancer cells and good healthy cells, so all of them are destroyed. This means Clara will have a compromised immune system the entire time she receives her chemo, which is really serious and can cause her health to be even more at risk. As a family, our world has completely changed in such a short space of time . A few weeks ago I was worried about not booking pumpkin picking events in time for Halloween, what to buy my girls for Christmas... now my worries are consumed with making sure my baby girl survives long enough to see events like these. Having to try to navigate Clara's illness and also explain to our 3 year old daughter what has been happening has honestly been heartbreaking. Alice's life has fundamentally changed now too; not only does she now have perpetually anxious and worried parents, she has to navigate a world where we are constantly back and forth the hospital with her little sister and are unable to plan family events like holidays or day trips for the foreseeable future. I have learned so much in the past week about the different types of support available to children with cancer and their siblings; watching children receive therapy disguised as 'play' is honestly heartbreaking.

We have always been such a private family and sharing our experience here does make me uncomfortable to be so public about what has been happening, but with the absolutely horrific whirlwind we have experienced the last few weeks, we wanted to get the news out there to all friends and family and provide an opportunity for people to show us support, no matter how small, while we navigate Clara's journey. We are so grateful for any donations and messages of support that people may want to share with us to help our family at this horrific time. All we can do for now is take it day by day, one step at a time. Please keep all your fingers and toes crossed for our beautiful Clara - we know she can beat this. Quite honestly, I absolutely refuse to think of any alternative or I will crumble. Here's to hoping for a healthier, happier, and safe future for our entire family.

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