Girl rings bell for third cancer all-clear
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS TrustA nine-year-old cancer patient has rung a bell for a third time at a hospital to mark being told she is leukaemia-free.
Izzy, from Worcester, was diagnosed with the disease days before her second birthday and relapsed for a third time in January.
Staff at the Worcester Royal Hospital presented the nine-year-old with a cake after she rang the "end of treatment" bell this week with her parents.
In 2020, doctors dressed up in tutus and surprised Izzy with their dancing skills while she was being treated during her second visit to the cancer clinic.
Izzy has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and first started treatment in 2017.
She completed that in May 2019 but Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said she relapsed early in 2020.
In 2022 she completed her second round of treatment and rang the bell but relapsed again in January, they added.
She was given CAR T-cell therapy which works by reprogramming the patient's own immune system which is then used to target the cancer.
The trust said it proved successful and they told Izzy she was cancer-free this week.
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During her second relapse in 2020, Dr Baylon Kamalarajan and Emma Maunder from the hospital dressed in bright-coloured tutus to dance while Izzy gave instructions.
The Royal Ballet company also sent well wishes at the time - in a tweet the company told the ballet-mad young patient: "Get well soon Izzy! We hope to see you dancing again soon."
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