On the 3rd of July 2020 when keira was only 8 weeks old we took her for her first vaccinations. 3 hours later our world was turned upside down. Our GP was worried about Keira and phoned the Bristol children’s hospital. We were called and told to take her directly and quickly to A&E, they did a CT scan and found a brain tumour the size of a tennis ball. We had no idea she was ill.

What followed was a rollercoaster. We were told that due to her age and the location of the tumour there was little chance of it being removed without Keira bleeding out. They could also see on the scans that the tumour had a lot of blood vessels running through it, making it even less likely they could remove it. However, after 15 hours of surgery we got the news that not only was Keira well and not in need of intensive care, but they had also managed to removed the whole tumour!

A few days later we were told the type of tumour she had was called Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumour (ATRT). Its a very rare, aggressive and fast growing tumour. The best chance of a cure is full removal (which is rare) and radiotherapy. We were told that radiotherapy wasn't an option for Keira due to her age, and without it the cancer would return in weeks to months. We knew at the point that Keira's tumour was found, it was estimated that if it had gone unfound, at best, she had a few weeks to live. Basically, at best, Keira had 3 months.

It was hard to come to terms with, and then out of the blue the team had a change of heart and offered keira intensive chemotherapy, followed by high dose chemotherapy and then a stem cell rescue, otherwise know as a bone marrow transplant. It was a treatment plan we have since found out, they don't like to put babies through. Normally babies just can't cope with it and the treatment is either pulled before they have finished or unfortunately they succumb to the treatment.

Keira finished the treatment plan and also ended it still cancer free of which she still is now.

She is an incredible warrior, and the bravest person I know. We don't know what the future holds for her, but while she is well, we are making the most of every minute we have with her.

We are raising money for 8 charities by walking a mile for every bead of courage Keira has earned during her treatment. She currently has 452 beads.

We will be doing this walk by talking part in a Tors Challenge across Dartmoor.

More details of this can be found here

https://milebymile4keira.wixsite.com/torschallenge

You can also follow Keira's progress over on her Instagram page

https://www.instagram.com/mile_by_mile_4_keira/