‘She is such a beautiful, kind, happy girl who does not deserve this’
FAMILY DEVASTATED AS DAUGHTER PAYTON, 4, DIAGNOSED WITH BRAIN TUMOUR ON CHRISTMAS EVE
A GRIMSBY family’s world has been left in pieces after being told on Christmas Eve their four-year-old daughter has a fast-growing cancerous brain tumour.
Little Payton Gilby was rushed to Sheffield Children’s Hospital for an operation to remove as much of the tumour as possible and has begun treatment which is due to last all year. But if the medulloblastoma comes back, Payton’s chances of survival are just 10 per cent.
Devastated mum, Vanessa Gilby, 29, told the Grimsby Telegraph her daughter will need specialist treatment at a cancer hospital in Manchester with proton therapy as well as chemotherapy lasting several months. Vanessa, who is also mum to son Tyler-Jay, eight, said: “You could never imagine in a million years that your loved one won’t survive cancer. “She is such a beautiful, kind, happy girl who does not deserve this.
“It is terrifying. If the tumour comes back there is a less than 10 per cent chance she will survive. It is awful.” Payton, a pupil at Old Clee Primary Academy, had begun feeling unwell at school throughout December.
But it wasn’t until doctors at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital recommended an MRI scan that her family realised she was suffering from a tumour which needed urgent treatment.
Vanessa said: “They had to operate straight away because it was an aggressive malignant tumour. We didn’t get a chance to have Christmas together because my mum and dad looked after Tyler, while I was with Payton. It is going to be hard for the rest of the treatment because I will be driving all over the country,” she added.
Payton has to have a line put into a vein in her neck for easy access for the treatment she is going to receive. Her mum said the treatment she is having can make her infertile so they will also take ovarian tissue and freeze it so she can decide later in life if she would like her own children. Payton, who loves being creative, painting and drawing and has a special love for animals, will only be able to see her older brother when she is home from hospital.
Normally a bubbly soul, Payton loves making visits to Weelsby Woods to see the horses at the nearby stables. Now she is back home watching TV recovering from her operation and awaiting the first treatment at Manchester in three weeks.
Vanessa has set up a GoFundMe page to appeal for help with the challenges ahead, including travelling to and from hospital for a year.
But the financial strain on Vanessa is mounting, as hospital transport has been diverted for the Covid response. Vanessa’s mum, Angie, and dad, Paul, both work and are supporting her by looking after Tyler.
Both Payton’s grandparents contracted coronavirus over Christmas so were unable to visit their granddaughter when she was undergoing her operation. They have since recovered from the disease.
Vanessa’s sister Jamie-Leigh, 27, has helped with driving, having just passed her test.
Vanessa said: “She has been brilliant. She had never been on a motorway until we were driving to Sheffield. “She brought her Christmas presents over because she was in hospital on Christmas Day.
“There was a visit from Santa and they gave her a Christmas dinner. But it is going to be a long haul throughout the year.
“She will be at the Manchester hospital for six weeks and then have six weeks at home. There will be nineweek blocks of treatment.”
She added: “She is very creative and loves drawing and painting. She loves dressing up as a princess and loves animals. We used to go to Weelsby Woods to see the horses and she watches Spirit the horse on TV and Peppa Pig.” The appeal will also help pay for a wig to replace Payton’s lovely blonde locks. Vanessa also hopes Tyler will be able to be with his sister as much as possible.
The gofundme page states: “She’s such a precious happy little girl and doesn’t deserve all the pain and upset this is causing her. The hospitals that specialise in these treatments are miles away from our home and her brother, my 8-year-old son can not come with us. Not only has this awful illness traumatised and tortured my little girl it has isolated us from out family.
“My aim with the money is for me to try and give her the most normal happy life possible while having treatment, I’d love to buy her a wig when she looses her hair and pay for my son to come and visit us as many weekends as is possible. Payton is losing her life as she knows it, she doesn’t deserve to lose her brother too.”