South Tyneside youngster faces second battle with cancer
The devastated family of South Shields youngster ‘Princess’ Kayleigh Brennan has been told her acute lymphoblastic leukaemia has returned.
Kayleigh, 7, began getting pains in her legs in May and had to go back into the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
It’s the same hospital where she faced two and a half years treatment during her first fight against cancer when she was only three years old.
This time round, mum Lindsay and dad Rob have to face a waiting game to find out the results of tests.
They are due back next week and they will either mean a bone marrow transplant or another two-year round of intense chemotherapy for Kayleigh.
She has already spent more than five weeks in the RVI since the return of the ALL and mum Lindsay, 40, said: “It is devastating. We couldn’t believe she will have to go through it all again.”
“But Kayleigh is a little fighter. She is our superstar. She has been really unwell but she understands it more this time.
“She was only three years old last time but she is seven now and she understands more.”
In a bid to boost the battling youngster, Lindsay has nominated her daughter for the Child of Courage section of this year’s Best of South Tyneside Awards.
Mum said: “It would be fantastic for her to get that achievement. It will show her that she is doing well and she can fight this.”
Kayleigh, who goes to St Mary’s RC School in Jarrow, is taking one day at a time in her new battle against cancer and mum is trying to line up a special surprise for her if she pulls through once again.
Lindsay explained: “Last time, she wanted to meet the princesses in Disney and we went off to the USA.
“One of her main things now is she loves Britain’s Got Talent and she would love to meet Ant and Dec.”
Her Disney dream led to the nickname ‘Princess’ Kayleigh and the seven-year-old is doing her best to try and win her latest fight against cancer.
She becomes one of the first entries in this year’s Best of South Tyneside Awards. We want many more.
We want to know about the unsung heroes, community champions, inspirational children and fantastic sports people for this year’s awards which will be taking nominations until Friday, August 30.
That’s loads of time to put forward your favourites – and once we pass that deadline, the judges will meet to draw up a shortlist in each amazing category on September 3.
Then it is on to the grand finale which will be held on Thursday, September 19 at the Roker Hotel.
The Best of South Tyneside awards, this year, have the support of Sunderland and South Tyneside NHS Foundation Trust, Tyne Coast College, Barbour, JML, Harlow Print, UTS, and Warmseal.
Watch out for more details on them in the days and weeks to come.
In the meantime, let’s start that process of honouring all those unsung stars.
There are plenty of categories to choose from.
Get your nomination in as soon as you can as that way, you know you’ve put an unsung hero in the running for honours.
To nominate, please send us the full name, phone number and email address, of the person you wish to nominate and the category you want to nominate them for, along with a brief description of why they are worthy of an award.
And if you are submitting an entry in the Young Performer category, send us a video of them performing.
Send your entries by email to: [email protected] or to https://www.bestofsouthtyneside.co.uk.
THE CATEGORIES.
Green Champion of the Year.
Child of Achievement.
Fundraiser of the Year.
Entrepreneur of the Year.
Local Hero Award.
Sporting Excellence/Young Sportsperson of the Year.
Sports Team of the Year.
Community Champion.
Student of the Year.
Community Group.
Small Business of the Year.
Large Business of the Year.
Child of Courage
Young Performer of the Year.
Lifetime Contribution.
Special Recognition.