Funds raised for Sheffield Children's Hospital that saved Huddersfield girl's life

The family of a six-year-old girl who was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour have raised almost £8,000 for a hospital that saved her life.

Ivy, from Huddersfield, needed urgent surgery at Sheffield Children's Hospital in September 2021 to start removing the tumour.

Her father, Benj Hemingway, said the removal left Ivy with a brain injury which causes behavioural problems.

He said it felt like "a bomb has gone off" in their lives.

About six months before Ivy's diagnosis, her behaviour changed and she became withdrawn and tired, Mr Hemingway said.

The symptoms became more regular and Ivy started experiencing severe headaches which led to vomiting. Her dad then took her to see a doctor.

Ivy was eventually diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma, which was not cancerous but required emergency surgery to remove fluid on her brain.

The family were told by doctors if they had waited any longer she could have died.

Since her four operations, Ivy has had issues with her hormones which has seen her putting on weight and she now struggles to sleep, sometimes staying awake through the night.

This leads to her becoming angry and sometimes aggressive, her father said.

"I've been in true hell already," he said. "The little girl that went in [for surgery] was a different person when she came out."

Removing the tumour caused major damage to Ivy's brain which was no fault of any doctors or surgeons who operated on her, he said.

The nature of its position at the base of her brain in her skull meant the operation was complicated, and part of her skull was ultimately removed.

He said the time in and out of hospital was "like your entire world is crumbling around you and you feel like you're stepping into a nightmare".

However, the care received from staff at the hospital inspired Mr Hemingway to raise money for The Children's Hospital Charity, which recently installed a £2m MRI scanner used during Ivy's treatment.

"We got the best care you could ever imagine," he said. "The best team, the best surgeons. They're not NHS staff, they're our friends and family now."

Despite the three rounds of surgery, a scan in January found the tumour had regrown, with proton beam therapy now set to take place in Manchester.

"We're fighters, we do not give in and a we're not going to give up on our little girl," he added.

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