On 1st May 2017, Gracie Greenwood lost her battle with cancer. She was just 20 months old. Her mum Lauren shares Gracie’s heartbreaking story to help raise more awareness for childhood cancer research.

“Hi my name is Lauren and I’m Gracie’s mum. Gracie passed away on the 1st May after fighting a brain tumour. She was such a potty character with an infectious smile. She was so determined to carry on and do things, even in her last few days.

“Gracie was first diagnosed at the age of one in August 2016. We were told she had a brain tumour called an embryonal tumour with multi-layer rosettes. It’s an extremely rare brain tumour that had been growing in Gracie’s brain before she was even born.

Treatment begins

“She had numerous operations to remove the tumour and drain fluid. She then started chemotherapy, which she responded well to and we got our baby girl back for a while!

“During her last round of chemo, she kept getting infections and had an abnormally low level of white blood cells, so her treatment couldn’t continue. Within this short space of time (just 3 weeks) the tumour had grown back over 50% and so they gave up on her and told us there is nothing more they can do!

“They did, however, start her on an oral chemo, which was to prolong her life. We were told we had two weeks, possibly a month left. This was in the January. She was doing so well on the oral chemo that we thought there was a chance it would work.

“However, in April we then noticed a big change. She went back to how she was when she was first diagnosed. She was lethargic, didn’t have an appetite, couldn’t crawl or walk and now she could barely even open her eyes. On the 28th April, we went to Derian House hospice to stay.

“We knew she wasn’t doing well. On the Monday, 1st May, she took her last breaths in my arms. I miss her so much and would do anything to see her potty little face one more time.”