Smiles better

HAPPY ending . . . brave tot Maisie with mum Lisa

Poorly tot’s a happy little girl again - Mum’s marathon effort of thanks

A ROYTON mum put her best foot forward with a group of pals to raise more than £4,000 in honour of her plucky daughter.

Lisa Whitworth’s world was turned upsidedown when her daughter Maisie was diagnosed with leukaemia two weeks before her second birthday.

With Maisie now well on the road to recovery, Lisa said: “After everything Maisie has had to go through, I wanted to do my bit to help fight this dreadful disease.”

With this in mind, her friends volunteered to join her in Shine, Cancer Research UK’s first ever night-time walking marathon, which took place in Manchester. The six-strong group netted more than £4,000 for the charity when they walked the 26-mile route.

The toddler had been poorly for several months, but doctors assured Lisa (29) it was just run-of-the-mill childhood illness, and that she would soon recover.

But Lisa and husband Ian’s concerns escalated when Maisie developed a speckly rash. They took her straight from their home in Windmill Close to the Walk-In Centre.

“It wasn’t just the rash, she was lethargic and not herself,” explained Lisa.

Medics suspected meningitis and called an ambulance to take the tot to the Royal Oldham Hospital, where blood tests revealed she had leukaemia.

“They told us Maisie had 94 per cent cancer cells in her blood, which was really high,” said Lisa.

“Most have about one-third of that. Maisie’s was so aggressive, doctors only see two or three cases like it each year.”

The diagnosis, last July, sparked an aggressive treatment regime, under the care of doctors at Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Lisa recalled: “Maise has been so very brave. She was really ill and in the beginning she was terrified and used to say ‘no, lady, no’ when the nurse came to her. It was awful, I felt like we were torturing her.”

But the kindness of medics caring for Maisie helped her overcome her fear, and instead of asking if she was going to hospital, she began referring to it as ‘Dr John’s house.’

Now, 10 months after her ordeal began, the toddler is a happy little girl, just like any other two-year-old, said her mother. She still faces 18 months of chemotherapy, but most of the time Maisie manages magnificently.

“She just gets on with things, she’s just brilliant,” said Lisa. “She is looking forward to starting school in September at St Anne’s, Royton, and we are all looking forward to her having a little normality in her life.”

Anyone who wants to sponsor Lisa can still do so at www.sponsormetoshine.org/lisawhitworth