The mother of a five-year-old girl with a terminal brain tumour thought her daughter had a food allergy or sunstroke prior to the devastating diagnosis.
Sarah Smith, a mother-of-six from Dublin, Ireland, noticed her daughter Lucy was a lot more fatigued than usual. She initially thought Lucy may be suffering from the hot weather, a viral infection or an allergy. A GP advised her to watch what her daughter was eating.
Smith told The Irish Sun that her daughter appeared to be getting better - until she collapsed before a planned family outing to Dublin Zoo on August 6. The paramedics told Smith is seemed like a viral infection might be to blame.
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Lucy was rushed to the hospital following her collapse and doctors performed a CAT scan.
The next morning, the family were told that Lucy had a rare and aggressive brain tumour called DIPG (diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma).
DIPG is located in an area of the brain stem known as the pons. The pons controls essential bodily functions including breathing, heartbeat, swallowing, eyesight and balance.
Doctors told the family that Lucy had just six to nine months to live and any treatments would only be palliative options.
"Never did I ever expect to be told it was something so serious," Smith told the outlet.
"They wanted to do all these tests and when they said they were keeping her in and wanted to do an MRI scan, that's when my heart started racing and I knew something was wrong."
The five-year-old has undergone emergency surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain and a shunt has been inserted to drain the fluid.
The family have since put Lucy on a strict plant-based diet, and Smith says her daughter is doing "so well".
"She's my Lucy and I don't want to change that, that's why we turned down radiotherapy... we're treating it naturally," Smith told The Irish Sun.
Lucy's father, Dwayne, has had to leave his job to help care for the five-year-old as well as her siblings Conor, Abbie, Carter, Jacob and Theo.
The family have since raised over €20,000 (NZ$34,791) through their GoFundMe page.
Donations will go towards Lucy's supplements and new diet, as well as alleviating the family's financial pressure.
Newshub.
