Family tells of joy after ‘miracle’ baby given all-clear after battle with rare cancer tumour

NATASHA HOLT: ‘I just stared at Maddison and cried. We were all so happy.’

A YORKSHIRE family have spoken of their joy after their “miracle” baby was given the all-clear by doctors following a battle with a rare cancer.

Little Maddison Holt, of Gipton, Leeds, was diagnosed with a microfibroblastic tumour just months after she was born in August 2019.

The news was a devastating blow for parents Rob, 31, and Natasha Holt, 30, who became pregnant with Maddison via IVF after five years of trying to conceieve.

Doctors at Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) diagnosed the rare cancer after the family noticed a hard lump in her stomach.

Mrs Holt said Madison was “an unbelievable miracle” adding: “We’d struggled for so long to get pregnant, we’d gone through the IVF and finally got her and then to be told she had cancer – it was hard. When you hear that word your first thought is: ‘is she going to die?’”

Maddison immediately began a treatment of chemotherapy and briefly returned home in late November before being re-admitted with severe bronchitis.

She was eventually well enough to be allowed home on Christmas Eve but in January her parents were told the chemotherapy had failed to shrink the tumour and

Maddison required surgery. The six-hour operation took place just days later and surgeons managed to remove 100 per cent of the tumour. Mr Holt said: “I just stared at her and cried. We were all so happy.” He added: “By Monday, she was drinking milk and laughing and giggling – that gorgeous giggle I didn’t think I would hear again for a while. And by Tuesday, our girl was home.”

The couple are now supporting Leeds-based children’s cancer charity Candlelighters, asking the public to donate an Easter egg for children at LGI. Eggs can be dropped off at any Leeds branch of retailer Timpson.