Thursday 2nd November 2023.

This date will stay with me forever. The day started normal enough, i had gone to work as normal, looking forward to picking up Lottie from school, i was probably still boring my colleagues about my family holiday we had just returned from! Then i received a whats app video at 7.20am off Claire (Lottie's mum). It was a video of Lottie struggling to put weight on her left foot and her left arm was limp as well. She'd also woke up screaming, she said she'd had a nightmare and blamed a Harry Potter film. Claire rang 111 and they advised to take Lottie to A & E. I left work expecting to be back in by dinner time and met Claire at Oldham A & E. Fast forward 4 hours and a CT scan later, we were given the news that Lottie had a brain tumour. Nothing can prepare you for that. We were transferred to the Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital. More scans and tests to confirm what we had been told. The tumour measured approx 6cm x 4cm x 4cm....big!

On Monday 6th November, Lottie underwent a 7 hour operation to have the tumour removed. The operation was as successful as it could be, the surgeons were happy they had removed as much as possible. The tumour was then sent away to determine what kind of tumour it was.

Thursday 16th November, we had appointment to discuss the biopsy result. It wasn't the news we were hoping for, the tumour was Malignant. The type of cancer Lottie has is called Ewing Sarcoma. Ewings is quite rare, approximately 30 cases a year in the uk and usually found in boys, teenagers and in bones - none of this applied to Lottie!! Typical Lottie!! Less than 5 cases a year!! This diagnosis meant that Lottie will undergo Chemotherapy and radiotherapy. As i write this, Lottie has completed 4 chemo cycles out of 14 and is about to start Proton Beam therapy where she will have 33 sessions of this treatment.

I've decided to try raise some money for the Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital and in particular, ward 86. Ward 86 specialises in Oncology and Haematology and where Lottie will have spent most of her time. Any monies raised will be split between ward 86 and the hospital.

All through this, Lottie has somehow still got a smile on her face. She's my absolute hero and inspiration.

Thank you for reading and thank you all for the support for Lottie, Jake, myself and Claire,

means the world 💙