Fun day goes ahead in tribute to brave Gracie

AFAMILY fun day was held at Rochdale Cricket Club to raise cash for the family of a toddler who sadly died from a brain tumour.

Gracie Greenwood passed away on Monday, May 1, aged just 20 months, having first been diagnosed with a tumour in her brain last year.

The brave toddler went through gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and surgery, but earlier this year her parents Lauren Doherty, 22 and Zak Greenwood, 26, from Rochdale were told that her condition was terminal and nothing more could be done for her.

It was later discovered that the extremely rare embryonal tumour had been growing since before Gracie was even born.

The fun day had been organised by family and friends before Gracie passed away to support efforts to find an alternative treatment after it turned out her chemotherapy was no longer working.

But her family revealed that the tot had passed away after a brave battle.

However relatives decided to go ahead with the event anyway as a chance for people to celebrate her short life.

Friends, relatives and supporters of the family gathered in the sunshine to share happy memories of Gracie and support her family.

Mum Lauren has paid tribute to her courageous little girl, saying: “She was so determined, potty, just crazy. When she was ill, she just got on with it, it didn’t bother her at all.”

And family friend Hayley Poles, who organised the event with Haley Connolly, said: “People have been fantastic, the support has been brilliant. We’d really like to say thank you to everyone who has helped.”

These pictures by Dominic Salter show people at the event.