Family are rocked by girl’s brain tumour diagnosis
AN 11-YEAR-OLD girl from Wales has been diagnosed with an inoperable brain cancer and told she has 18 months to live, just months after she began complaining of headaches.
Tiarna Mitchell, from Trowbridge in Cardiff, started complaining of headaches around four months ago and was originally taken to see her optician by her mum Stacey.
Tiarna’s aunt Tamara Lyons said her niece wears prescription glasses and her family initially thought her headaches might mean she just needed a change in her prescription. However, after checking her over, the optician told her mum that Tiarna needed to go to hospital immediately.
They went to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, where Tiarna spent five weeks and underwent a number of scans and tests which saw her diagnosed with hydrocephalus – fluid on the brain. She was told she would need an operation to determine what was causing her headaches.
“On her scan they saw swelling on her brain and needed to remove the fluid to see it properly, as they couldn’t see what was wrong,” Tamara, 26, explained.
Tiarna had her operation, which lasted several hours, and underwent a biopsy to further determine what was causing her pain.
And this week the family were hit with the devastating news that Tiarna had an inoperable brain tumour and had been given around 18 months to live.
Tamara said Tiarna’s whole family, including siblings Mya, 15, Jordan, seven, and Learah, two, were “absolutely heartbroken” at the news.
“There are no words for something like that – she is 11 years old. You never think it’s going to happen to your family. It was a devastating blow to our whole family,” she said.
Describing her niece, who had recently started high school, as “the funniest girl”, Tamara said: “She would grow up to be a superstar. She can hold an audience at just 11 – we call her the TikTok queen. She was making things for TikTok while she was in hospital. Her smile lights up a room.
“She’s so loving and caring. Her main focus is to make everyone laugh. She is very popular with her friends in school and she helps around the house a lot, especially with her younger siblings. She’s an amazing student.”
Tamara said Tiarna will likely undergo radiotherapy, as her family want to do “everything in [their] power” to help her fight.
She said the family had been “inspired” by how she had taken the devastating news.
“She’s her usual self – she’s so concerned with everyone else. She still smiles and I tell her that she has been an inspiration for us all. She’s been so positive through all of this.”
A GoFundMe has been set up, which has already raised over £1,000, in order to raise money for any other treatments that might become available to Tiarna, as well as allowing the family to make as many memories with her as they can.
“I’m hoping that we can raise as much money as we can, so anything [treatments] that is shown to us, we can go for it and give her the best chance we can.
“She’s never been on a plane or had a holiday, so anything she asks for, we would like to be able to afford to do that with her.”
Tamara added that she hoped the family’s ordeal could send a message that anyone feeling ill should get checked, even if it seems insignificant.
“We never thought at 11 years old and her complaining of headaches would turn into this. It shows that even if it’s just headaches, you should get checked if you aren’t sure,” she said.