Journey of hope for Edie
A GIRL of six who is battling the deadliest childhood cancer has flown to New York for pioneering treatment which offers her a precious lifeline.
Brave Edie Jackson will have tests to see if surgeons can use the experimental technique to combat her brain tumour.
The “warrior princess” was struck down with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) just before Christmas.
Her parents Craig and Lois were told DIPG tumours are virtually impossible to remove and are usually fatal.
Because the tumour spreads in fragments rather than in a solid mass, doctors are unable to operate without risking damage to healthy tissue.
But Convection Enhanced Delivery (CED) treatment targets the growth with drugs fed directly to the affected area.
Edie’s family flew to the US because CED is only available privately here at a prohibitive cost.They funded the £245,000 treatment with a massive fundraising campaign in Waltham Abbey, Essex, which included a charity football match which saw Calum Best head a cast list of reality stars.
Mum Lois, 38, said her daughter’s body changes daily. “Edie has lost a lot of strength in her right arm which means she can no longer write or draw which was one of her favourite things. But she just carries on like nothing is wrong – our true warrior princess.
“She is our darling girl and we are so proud of her.”
UP to 147,000 new cancer cases could be prevented every year if people led healthier lives, a charity says.
The World Cancer Research Fund said that 366,303 Britons were diagnosed in 2017, more than 1,000 every day.
But the charity said that around 40 per cent of cases could be avoided if people stopped smoking, ate better, were active and kept a healthy weight.
Other ways include cutting alcohol, eating just three portions of red meat a week, ditching processed meat, breastfeeding where possible and being safe in the sun, the charity said.
Caroline Cerny, of the Obesity Health Alliance, called on ministers to tackle “the tide of junk food marketing with a 9pm watershed on junk food adverts and restrictions on promotions”.