Brave wee Elspeth grins and bears it
A Linlithgow girl suffering from a life- threatening genetic condition is set to have her biggest wish come true.
Elspeth Meikle ( 5) has been invited as the guest of honour to open the new Charlie Bears Gallery in Cornwall thanks to the Make-AWish Foundation.
Elspeth suffers from type 1 neurofibromatosis, which means tumours grow on her nerves.
The condition has caused the Bonnytoun Nursery pupil to go partially blind after a brain tumour was found at her optic nerves.
She underwent chemotherapy, which reduced the tumour by 60 per cent and was accompanied throughout by her first Charlie bear, Snowball, bought by mum Claire.
Claire said: “We started to notice that Elspeth’s eyesight was failing. From around 18 months onwards we noticed that she was bumping into things and tripping into kerbs.
“The optician said ‘ I can’t tell what’s going on because she’s too young. You’ll have to take her to the hospital’ so we were referred to the eye doctor.
“A few months later she had her 21-month developmental check and they noticed there was a problem as well so they added vision checks to the list.
“As soon as she saw Elspeth and spoke to me the eye doctor said she needed to see the neurologist because there was a nystagmus or jerking of the eyes and a visual field problem which needed to be checked out.
“They didn’t foresee a big problem but suggested an MRI scan. That showed quite a large tumour and because of where it is, in the centre of her brain where all the optic nerves are, they couldn’t operate.”
The oncologist working with Elspeth wanted to shrink the tumour and suggested chemotherapy instead.
That reduced the tumour significantly but one major side affect was that her eyesight quickly deteriorated to the extent that she is now registered blind.
Elspeth will have regular hospital check-ups for the rest of her life as the tumour’s positioning has caused other neurological and hormonal problems.
She is doing well just now and is set to start school at St Joseph’s Primary in August but first she will head to Cornwall to live out her dream.
Claire said: “I’ve always been a really keen bear collector and actually make my own teddy bears. Quite early in her life I realised that Elspeth loved soft toys.
“When she was going through the biopsy I bought her her first Charlie bear. I phoned up the company and asked for one that has no metal so it could stay with her through her scans.
“They actually ripped open one of their bears to check for me then sent me one on.”
She added: “Elspeth’s very excited, she can’t wait to meet Charlie and visit the Bear House.
“Everybody knows Elspeth because when she’s out and about she talks to everyone. She’s certainly not shy.
“Make a Wish Foundation have made this all happen and we’re so grateful to them.”
Make- A- Wish grants wishes to enrich the lives of children and young people fighting lifethreatening conditions.
For more information visit www. make-a-wish.org.uk.