The father of a two-year-old girl diagnosed with a rare form of cancer has said his daughter has "good days and bad" as she faces intense pain from the condition.
Co Derry dad Robin Patton's little girl Myla, a twin, was diagnosed with a form of bone cancer known as Ewing's Sarcoma earlier this month and now faces months of chemotherapy, surgery, and a hospital stay in England.
Myla, described as "full of light and laughter", began showing worrying signs when she complained of pain in her right leg.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, dad Robin from Castledawson said: "We had her MRI on the 2nd of April. It was a long way to get there, between being in and out of hospital. We had been up and down in A&E quite a few times and they'd done X-Rays, blood tests and nothing was showing anything up. Then one of the doctors referred us to the Royal, and she ended up staying on one of the wards - neurology, because they wanted to make sure it wasn't something going on in the brain.
"We were supposed to get an MRI done at the Royal, but their machine was broke so that left us back waiting until April for the MRI."
After around two months in and out of hospital, Myla was given her MRI and a tumour was discovered at the base of her spine. Biopsy results showed, with 99% certainty, that it is a form of bone cancer known as Ewing's Sarcoma.
Robin's sister, Tyree, explains: "Only 30 children a year are diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, and of every 100 children with cancer, only two of them are Ewing's Sarcoma, showing how rare and aggressive it is.
"For those who know Myla, you know how full of joy she is. She's a happy, playful, gorgeous little girl who's always smiling, and she has a twin sister called Georgia, who is her best friend.
"Myla has the toughest battle ahead of her with months of chemotherapy, followed by surgery, radiotherapy and then more chemotherapy to finish. That's not including the physio and rehab she'll need after treatment. It's overwhelming to even think about and unimaginable for someone so small to go through."
The treatment journey for little Myla includes 18 weeks of what dad Robin has been told will be "intense chemo", followed by surgery to remove the tumour, and then "possible six weeks of radiology in Manchester".
She is due to have a feeding tube fitted into her stomach because, as Robin explained, she is "that small she'll just go off food".
Myla's aunt Tyree has started an online fundraiser to help the family through the difficult time ahead.
Tyree said: "She's a happy, playful, gorgeous little girl who's always smiling, and she has a twin sister called Georgia, who is her best friend. Myla will now be spending a lengthy amount of time in hospital and heartbreakingly, she'll be away from her sister for most of this. They've never spent a day apart in their lives, and our family are absolutely devastated.
"Myla's mum has also had to come out of work completely and her dad will need a lot of time off too to support her. The money raised will go towards bills, daily living and making life as enjoyable as we can for Georgia and Myla as we try to navigate this journey that has been marked out for us."
Almost £30,000 has been raised in just a few days since the fundraiser went online.
Robin added: "We're just a bit overwhelmed by the amount of support we've had. It's more than what we ever expected."
To donate, the fundraiser for Myla can be found here.
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