LITTLE Gracie Tudor has a tough road ahead after being diagnosed with a rare cancer but the brave tot has amazed family and friends with her courage.
After falling ill in March, Gracie, aged two, has been found to have a stage 4 high grade neuroblastoma with MYCN amplification – a rare cancer first found in her abdomen which has spread to her bone marrow and back.
The little one from Kingswinford was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital in March after medics at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley first realised there was something seriously wrong and she is now undergoing a gruelling course of chemotherapy.
After that, if things go to plan, she will need surgery, radiotherapy, a stem cell transplant and immunotherapy – her mum Claire Jones told the News.
Shocked and stunned at what’s happened to Gracie, her family and their friends have started a fundraiser to raise money to help give the gutsy youngster the best possible treatment options ahead.
Her mum Claire, aged 33, who has had to give up her job on the make-up counter at Boots at Merry Hill to be with her daughter, said Gracie faces an 18-month minimum battle ahead. Even after this she may need to go to New York in America or Rome, Italy, for further treatment to give her best chance of survival.
Her friend Shannon Ellis started a Go Fund Me page and to date more than £80,000 has been pledged but the likely costs needed range from £245,000 to £500,000.
Claire said she’s been overwhelmed at the support the family has received. She said: “We have had so many kind people help fundraise. “Everyone has been amazing.”
She now wants to raise awareness of the condition Gracie is suffering from and how quickly it can develop. She told how she thought her little girl simply had a tummy bug initially as she’d been feeling a little sick.
Then when she first sought medical treatment she was treated for a urine infection and it was only when her instinct as a mum pushed her to ask for scans that the severity of the situation was discovered. A large tumour measuring about 7cm by 7cm was eventually discovered in her abdomen which by the time treatment was getting underway was found to be 15 by 10cm.
Despite the devastating news and all that lies ahead, she said Gracie has been “doing amazing”.
She said: “I’m so proud of her. The strength and bravery our little two-year-old is showing is nothing short of amazing. She is incredible. All the nurses idolize her.”
Tragically, Gracie is not the only one in the family battling cancer. Her dad Stephen Tudor also has leukaemia.
But Claire said they have all tried to remain as upbeat as possible in spite of the difficult circumstances.
She said: “We’ve got to be positive.
“We’re trying to keep things as normal as we can.”
Anyone wishing to donate to Gracie’s fundraiser can do so via the Go Fund Me website (search life saving treatment for Gracie).
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