Beaming on her first day at school, girl who had a brain tumour the size of an orange
A GIRL of four who had a brain tumour the size of an orange removed when she was a baby is preparing to start school.
Lyra Cole had initially been diagnosed as just having a virus before the growth on her head was discovered.
She was only five months old when she underwent 11 hours of emergency surgery to remove the tumour.
But Lyra made a full recovery and she is now excited to be starting primary school.
The family, from Highbridge, Somerset, were told on four occasions in late 2013 that the youngster only had a virus and would recover on her own.
But her parents, Ellie Hawkes and Dan Cole, refused to accept the diagnosis – particularly after she started vomiting two or three times a day.
Eventually they took Lyra to hospital, where she had a CT scan. Mr Cole, an engineer with energy firm EDF, said: ‘ This [scan] revealed she had a tumour the size of a small orange growing in the back of her brain.
‘Ellie and I were numb and in total shock. Although we didn’t believe she had a virus, we never in our worst dreams thought it would be this.’
Lyra had a low- grade choroid plexus papilloma, a rare form of brain tumour that can particularly affect infants, and was taken to Frenchay Hospital in Bristol where she underwent emergency surgery the next day.
The procedure was successful but, within months, the little girl was struggling to see due to a cyst growing on her optic nerve.
Thankfully a second operation restored her sight. Mr Cole, 36, said: ‘By the time she came round and was back on the ward it was obvious her sight was coming back.
‘Lyra looked happy and, instead of looking through us as she has previously done, there was a discernible difference that she was actually looking at us.’
The youngster, who enjoys gymnastics, dancing and singing, has her scar hidden by her hair.
Mr Cole added: ‘Lyra adores dancing, she’s a real performer and loves talking to people. She can’t wait for school and to wear her new “nooniform” as she calls it.’
Hugh Adams, from charity Brain Tumour Research, said: ‘It’s wonderful to see Lyra grow up and head off to school. Brain Tumour Research is focused on funding research to find a cure for brain tumours, so more families can see their children grow up.’