An
eight year old girl who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer three years
ago has become the first person in the world to beat the illness.
Claudia
Burkill, of Mount Rasen in England, was told she had metastatic pineoblastoma,
a malignant brain tumour, at the age of five.
On a
number of times the family was told Claudia had just weeks to live and had
planned her funeral.
Then
on the weekend, three years to the day since Claudia’s mum Andrea Burkill first
called a hospital about her daughter’s health, the family’s prayers were
answered.
“Claudia is cancer-free and no longer
classed as terminally ill,” Mrs Burkill wrote on her daughter’s Facebook page.
“A miracle has happened, it really has. I just can’t stop shaking.”
Only
about four cases of metastatic pineoblastoma are diagnosed every year and there
is a survival rate of less than five per cent worldwide.
In
June 2011 the Burkill family arrived home from a holiday when Claudia started
vomiting.
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David
Burkill kisses the head of his little girl, Claudia.
Photo:
Claudia's Cause/Facebook
Andrea
and David Burkill were not satisfied when doctors diagnosed her with a virus
after doing a series of tests including a CAT scan, a lumbar puncture and an
MRI.
After
taking her to the Queens Medical Center Nottingham doctors found the tumor in
the center of her brain.
The
family agreed for Claudia to undergo an experimental Italian treatment which
involving 44 sessions of radiotherapy.
While
she has some residual brain damage as a result of the treatment the Burkill
family, including Claudia’s siblings Abigail, Esme and Zachery, believe they
can get through anything.
“We had lived with a terminal diagnosis
with death believed to be imminent for a crazy 694 days,” Mrs Burkill wrote.
“Today is the very first day in a very long time that I can look into the eyes
of our four stunning children and “know” that I don’t have to plan the funeral
of one of them in the very near future.”
“The mere joy of being alive today far
surpasses any other single day in my life so far,” she wrote. “There are no
signs of any tumor, any leptomeningeal spread or any recurrent disease,
anywhere.
Mrs
Burkill said news of Claudia’s recovery had spread across the world.
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Andrea
Burkill with daughter, Claudia
Photo:
Claudia's Cause/Facebook
“Monday, it was the local news, Tuesday,
it was the national news and yes, you guessed it, today it is international
news with newspapers in Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, New Zealand,
Hong Kong, Peru and a hundred more all covering Claudia’s amazing news! I guess
the exciting news for us today, as a family is, is that Claudia’s new
wheelchair is ready tomorrow and so she will have a brand new set of sporty
wheels to get around in,” she said. “On top of that, her hair…..a brand new
blonde hairstyle, which actually made me cry because she looks, just like she
did before cancer, is ready to collect next week.”
“We are the luckiest people in this
world — Claudia is believed to be the very first little girl in the world ever
to survive metastatic pineoblastoma,” she wrote. “She has paid a high price, we
all have, however, she does have her life and we are dedicated to making the
very best that it can be for her. A life where she can experience love, joy and
happiness in abundance and be cherished always.”
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