A FOUR-YEAR-OLD tot has been given less than a year to live after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
But the anguished parents of little Ellese Mulligan-Green refuse to give up hope and, along with friends, have launched a fund-raising campaign to pay for her future treatment which could include a trip to America.
Ellese, a pupil at St Mary’s RC Primary School in Oswaldtwistle, was diagnosed with a high-grade glioma – the medical name for a deadly brain tumour – in June this year.
Her mum Joanne, 39, who works for Hyndburn Homes, said: "You just can’t describe the way you feel when you are told your child has less than a year to live.
"You are just completely numb, helpless and in total disbelief.
"Until June, Ellese was just the same as any other healthy, happy four-year-old girl.
"She loves her friends and life in general so much.
"She is friendly, caring and very loyal. She really is a beautiful child."
Ellese, who recently moved from Oswaldtwistle to Guide with her mum, dad Phillip, 37, and little brother Joshua, two, was diagnosed after her parents noticed her unwillingness to walk downstairs, bouts of sickness and unsteadiness on her feet.
She was admitted to Pendlebury Children’s Hospital, where she was given steroids to soften her tumour and to reduce her pain as well as being taken for a scan and a biopsy.
Following this first operation Ellese fell into a coma when her sodium levels became dangerously low – but then she seemed to show a dramatic improvement.
Joanne said: "Nobody could believe just how well she was doing and how much she wanted to walk and talk.
"But when Phillip and I went back to see the consultant he told us she had between nine and 12 months to live and that we shouldn’t be hopeful.
"I could not believe what I was being told and I didn’t want to believe it. I was just hysterical."
Ellese has since undergone 30 sessions of radiotherapy at The Christie Hospital, which has failed to alleviate her condition, and is now about to embark on chemotherapy.
Joanne said: "She really is so inspirational, as she has coped with everything that has been thrown at her.
"At the moment we are going through these treatments to prolong her life and to give her a better quality of life.
"We really don’t want her to suffer and we will not put her through anything that will hurt her.
"In her mind she thinks she just has a poorly head and that it’s getting better because we don’t want to scare her."
FOUR of Joanne’s work colleagues from Hyndburn Homes have now set up a fund-raising account in Ellese’s name to help raise cash towards any future treatment she needs. They have organised a fashion show at the Poplar WMC in Accrington where hosts Fizz will donate all the ticket money and 10 per cent of any sales they make on the night. The event is being held on Thursday 20 November from 7.45pm. Tickets cost £3 and can be bought on the door.
