She’s my walking miracle
Mum’s joy as daughter, 8, recovers from life-saving surgery to remove brain tumour the size of a golf ball:
WHEN little Hollie Morris became sickly, her mum put it down to “lockdown anxiety”.
The schoolgirl was one of many children struggling with the changes brought about when the country went into lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus back in March .
Eight-year-old Hollie, from Leigh, became distant and detached and started to suffer from bouts of sickness, dizziness and had a suspected lazy eye.
Her mum Kelly Morris, 39, assumed the youngster was struggling with the government imposed restrictions.
But she took her for a check-up at her local Specsavers on June 4 as she had become increasingly worried.
Less than 24 hours later, the youngster was on the operating table at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital having a benign brain tumour removed.
Primary school support worker Kelly, who is also mum to 14-year-old Charlie said she was shocked.
“Hollie wasn’t acting herself at all,” she says. “She didn’t want to get dressed, she’d stay in bed all day and was totally detached - but I genuinely put it down to lockdown anxiety.
“If it wasn’t for that eye test, who knows where we’d be? The doctor told me if it had been even a few days longer, she might not be with us now.
“As soon as medics asked if there’d be any changes in Hollie’s behaviour, it all made sense. It wasn’t lockdown - it was a tumour pushing down on the back of her brain.”
Less than three hours after Hollie’s eye test, medics phoned Kelly, urging her to take her daughter to Wigan’s Royal Albert Edward Infirmary.
There the schoolgirl had a CT scan, which revealed a golf ball sized tumour at the base of her skull.
“Words can’t express how it feels getting that news,” says Kelly. “I pretty much broke down on the floor.
“When you hear your child has a brain tumour, a million questions run through your mind. How serious is it? Will she be okay? Everything.”
Later that evening, Hollie was bluelighted to Manchester Children’s Hospital, with Kelly staying by her side the entire time.
There, medics explained that the tumour needed to be removed as quickly as possible, as it was preventing fluid in the brain from draining properly, causing a dangerous build-up of pressure.
Less than 24 hours after she had walked in to the opticians, Hollie was taken down to theatre for the life-saving operation.
Kelly recalled: “I gave her a kiss goodbye and told her I’d see her soon.”
Making a remarkable recovery, Hollie was up and walking within three days, and was discharged after five. Two days later, a biopsy confirmed the tumour was benign.
Though she does not require any further treatment, Hollie will have MRI scans every three months for the next year to check for regrowth.
After that, she will have a scan every six months for a further four years.
But Kelly remains hopeful that her little girl has a bright future ahead.
“There’s a chance the tumour could come back, but you can’t focus on that,” she says. “Hollie been so brave through this whole ordeal and, thanks to the NHS, we’re in an amazing position to face whatever comes our way.”