LITTLE MALI’S CANCER BATTLE
FOLLOWING a devastating cancer diagnosis and mastectomy two years ago, Nia Hilditch-Prydderch thought her life had finally returned to “some form of normality” in late 2020.
But her world came crashing down for a second time last month when she discovered that her four-year-old daughter Mali had been struck down with the same life-threatening disease.
Now the pair are preparing to spend Christmas Day together on a hospital ward in another country, separated from the rest of their loving family.
“I have another young daughter, Mabli, and she won’t be able to see her little sister or her mum on Christmas Day. It’s just so upsetting for all of us,” said Nia.
Nia, from Ruthin, Denbighshire, said she found a lump on her breast two years ago and went to her GP to get it checked out.
“He was confident that I shouldn’t be overly worried about it, but he erred on the site of caution due to my family history of cancer and sent me for a scan [at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd],” she recalled.
“I lost my mum when I was nine to ovarian cancer, and I just couldn’t help but think that history was repeating itself.”
On December 4, 2018, at the age of 35, Nia was told she had breast cancer and opted for a full mastectomy the following month.
“As it was a hormone-driven breast cancer, I was told I’d need to be on daily medication for the next 10 years,” she said.
“A sample of my tumour was sent to California, where it was found that less than 1% of people with my cancer benefit from chemotherapy. So it was decided that I wouldn’t have it, which was a relief.”
NHS nurse Nia admitted that she was just about getting over the ordeal of her own cancer when daughter Mali started feeling unwell.
“We’d just started to get a bit of normality back. We’d managed to get back on our feet financially, as me and my husband Graham had needed to take so much time off work [during my treatment].
“Then Mali began experiencing what I thought at first was just a urine infection. She was displaying the classic symptoms, such as an urgency to wee and pain when going to the toilet.”
After giving samples to their GP which confirmed a urinary tract infection, it was later discovered that Mali had red blood cells in her urine, which is highly unusual.
“Our GP was amazingly supportive and never dismissed my concerns. However, my mother’s instinct had kicked in and I did fear the worst for my daughter.”
Mali, who also has a half-brother called Joseph, 12, was referred for a hospital scan which revealed that something ominous had been found attached to one of her kidneys.
“It was a complete bolt from the blue for us. Before we went for the scan we were told the red blood cells had cleared,” Nia added.
“When you’re told something like that, your whole world just seems like a completely different place. Everything changes in that moment.
“We didn’t know what to do with ourselves. We couldn’t believe this was happening again, but this time it was even worse as it was our baby girl.”
On November 4 this year, Mali was diagnosed with a Wilms tumour, also known as nephroblastoma, a rare kidney tumour affecting 70-80 children in the UK each year.
She has now had four weeks’ worth of chemotherapy, which has led to her losing her blonde hair.
“It’s so difficult to make her understand what’s going on. I’ve just told her she has a ‘nasty lump’ – which is how I referred to mine – that needs to be taken away.
“The chemotherapy has really hit her hard. She’s been so poorly and we’ve been going back and forth to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd with high temperatures and all sorts. She’s lost an awful lot of weight as she hasn’t been eating or drinking, so a naso-gastric tube was inserted to get something into her body, which has been a godsend.”
On December 23, Mali is expected to undergo an operation at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool to completely remove the cancerous kidney.
It means both Mali and Nia will be spending the festive period across the border in England without seeing Mabli, five, Graham or the rest of their family.
To help the family through this traumatic time, Nia’s brother Rhys Hilditch Roberts decided to set up a GoFundMe page. Within a week, more than £8,000 was raised.
“It’s quite unbelievable. I cannot put into words how kind and generous people have been,” said Nia, a psychiatric nurse. “We have been absolutely blown away by the reaction, particularly from our local community. We’ve been told her cancer is treatable, which is encouraging, but you never know what can happen with any form of cancer.”
To donate go to https://uk.gofundme.com/f/supporting-and-raising-awareness-of-wilms-tumour