The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Lily aims to walk again thanks to Captain Tom
Ayoung dancer with a rare form of cancer is preparing to take her first steps in six months – inspired by the late Captain Sir Tom Moore.
Last year Captain Sir Tom became a household name after the 100-year-old raised almost £33 million for NHS charities by walking 100 laps of his garden.
He died on Tuesday having contracted pneumonia and later testing positive for coronavirus.
After seeing videos of Captain Tom walking on his frame, Lily Douglas was determined to get walking on her own frame as well to raise some much-needed cash.
Lily, 13, has been battling cancer for the past four years and in July she suffered a bleed to the brain which left her paralysed. She has not walked since.
Mum Jane said: “We have been wanting to do something for the NHS for a long, long time.
“We were waiting until she got better but she is still fighting after four years and we thought maybe this is the time to do it.
“Lily saw Captain Tom walking on his frame and said she would love to do that too, and it just took off from there.
“We donated to his fund in the summer and followed his story because he is just amazing.
“We put a £500 target but it’s not even been 24 hours and she has already raised £840 and we are just blown away.
“She is excited and she has been given so much from the NHS and those
are the people we need to thank and give something back to.”
Lily and Jane are making the 800-mile round trip to the Royal Marsden Hospital in London this week to continue with her treatment, where she will also get more physiotherapy to help her take those first few steps.
Jane added: “She had a bleed on the brain due to her disease spreading and that paralysed her.
“It was very grim and we were told there was not much more that could be done, and that she might not survive.
“She couldn’t move and couldn’t talk and she lost the ability to eat, and we thought those were her final days.
“But she fought through and in a couple of weeks started saying words and that turned into sentences and she started moving again.
“Lily wanted to get on a trial at the Royal Marsden Hospital but Covid-19 stopped that. But I spoke to her consultant when the trial opened back up and we got the go-ahead.
“We are incredibly lucky because she is one of only two people in the UK on the trial. We are now going down to London for more scans.
“She had quite a time of it on our last trip to London because she then contracted sepsis and it was touch-and-go.
“We thought we were going to lose her and she was rushed to hospital to get an operation to take out an infected port.
“She took a while to recover from that and lost a lot of weight but we want to keep everything positive for her.
“We have her standing up in her frame in the house and Captain Tom has just inspired her to push through.
“She is incredible, even when she is in pain and others would just lie down, she gets on her frame and tries to do something.”
Lily is currently raising money for the NHS via JustGiving.