Brave Gracie loses battle with cancer
PARENTS WILL CONTINUE CAMPAIGNING FOR MORE RESEARCH CASH FOR FIVE-YEAR-OLD’S ILLNESS
THE family of a ‘brave and determined’ youngster who lost her battle with a rare cancer say she was the light of their lives.
Gracie McCall was diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of just two and spent the next three years fighting it.
Gracie, from Withington, finally succumbed and passed away last Thursday, aged five.
Her grieving parents Katie Goldrick and Callum McCall have vowed to continue campaigning about the ‘dire’ lack of funding for childhood cancer research.
Gracie was diagnosed with an Atypical Teratoid Rhabdoid Tumour in 2014 and underwent extensive surgery and treatment before being given the all-clear. But a routine check-up in October 2015 revealed that Gracie’s cancer had returned with three new tumours on her brain and spine.
Katie said: “We had known all along that if the cancer ever returned we would no longer be able to cure her and that any new treatment options would be very limited. It then became about giving her the best quality of life possible for as long as we could.”
Katie said Gracie’s consultant Dr J P Kilday and the teams on Ward 84 at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and at The Christie gave the family more time with the little girl than they ever thought possible.
Katie said: “Gracie really was the light of our lives and she made a big impact on anyone she met - strong, brave, determined, confident and she could chat the socks off everyone.
“Gracie didn’t get to spend that much time at school but she absolutely loved it when she was there. She was clever, inquisitive and just loved to learn. She also loved to sing and dance.
“She had a very unique, funny and special little personality quite unlike any other child her age and she really brought such joy to so many people in her five short years.”
Throughout Gracie’s illness Katie and Callum have tried to raise awareness of childhood cancer and the ‘dire’ lack of funding into research.
Gracie was an ambassador for Kidscan Childhood Cancer Research and shared her story through Friends of Rosie, both of which work to find kinder treatments for children.
Katie added: “Children should be everyone’s priority but sadly development of, and access to, new treatments specifically for children is not as financially appealing to researchers and drug companies as more common adult cancers. This has to change, and quickly. We will continue to campaign in her memory and hope that in the future all children affected by cancer have the chance of living a full and happy life.”