Ringing of bell must wait, but Clodagh (5) excited to mark end of cancer battle
IT is a milestone she did not want to miss.
But ringing the bell to signify the end of five-year-old Clodagh Mcnamee’s cancer treatment is just not possible during the coronavirus pandemic.
The little girl from Newtownstewart in Co Tyrone has been receiving treatment after being diagnosed with leukaemia twoand-a-half years ago.
Tomorrow was due to mark the end of her treatment.
But instead of getting to ring the bell in the Children’s Cancer Unit at the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, she will be celebrating at home.
Mum Ciara (34) told about the shock of the initial diagnosis in January 2018.
“We noticed that for a few days after the New Year she was very pale,” she said.
“I thought it was the chickenpox because she just wasn’t her wee self.”
Ciara and husband Conor (33) took her to the doctor and she was then sent to Belfast, where they received the diagnosis.
“You never know what it’s like until it’s at your own door,” Ciara added.
At one point she was in the ward for nine-and-a-half weeks with infections.
But now she has come out the other side and is due to mark the end of her treatment this week.
The little girl is used to lockdown measures due to being prone to infection. Ciara said: “She knows she’s not allowed near anybody at the minute, and if I ask her why she says: ‘Because of the virus’.”
The family can hardly believe they have got to this point and plan to mark tomorrow with a celebration in the house.
Ciara added: “She can’t wait until the virus is over so she can ring the wee bell.”
She said her daughter has been “so brave” and had a “smile on her face all the time and never let it get to her”.
The family were assisted throughout by the Children’s Cancer Unit Charity, which supports the work of the medical team and staff at the Children’s Haematology and Oncology Unit at the Royal.
This year the charity is holding a Miles for Smiles fundraiser that sets participants the challenge of walking, running or sprinting one or more miles.