A brave little six-year-old girl who is battling one of the most aggressive forms of blood cancer has been taken to the heart of two communities in Pembrokeshire.
Esther Mcweeney of Manorbier is just three weeks into a six-month hospital stay where she faces many rounds of chemotherapy to tackle her case of Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), which affects only 100 people a year in the UK.
Her parents - Philip, 41 and Jasmine, 32 - have given up their jobs to spend as much time as possible with Esther, helped by a massive fund-raising drive in both Manorbier and Tenby, where the couple were brought up.
More than £13,000 has been donated to a GoFundMe page set up by Esther’s cousin, Jess Dooner, with an afternoon tea and charity day at Beavers Hill, Manorbier raising £4,500.
A community football match and quiz in the village brought in more than £1,000 and there has also been a donation of £1,000 from Tenby Round Table from the proceeds of their Summer Spectactulars.
“This little girl is the most precious thing in our lives, and to see people pulling together for her is just amazing,” said Jasmine.
“Esther is soldiering on – she is a strong little girl, she really is, braver than anyone I know.
“She’s a pupil at Manorbier School who have been absolutely wonderful, and she’s known as quite a character there.
“She’s certainly been keeping me on my toes ever since she wes a baby.
“What is so frightening is that she was poorly for nine months before eventually being diagnosed and it was being dismissed as a virus.”
Philip and Jasmine have two other daughters, Grace, 11 and five-year-old Gwen who are being looked after by their extended families as they focus on Esther’s recovery in the Rainbow Ward of the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital in Cardiff. The girls also have an elder sister, Casey, who is 16.
It was there, earlier this month, that they were given the devastating diagnosis of AML just the day after a blood test which Jasmine had fought for.
Esther has so far had five lumbar punctures to eradciate the cancer from her spine, and has just finished her first round of chemotherapy.
During this time, an eye infection exacerbated by her compromised immune system led to fears she may lose an eye, but fortunately she overcame the crisis that saw her desperately ill with frequernt temperature spikes.
“It was the hardest week of my life,” admitted Jasmine.
“Esther is now doing really well and we are building her up for her next round of chemo.
“At the moment she looks better than she has in months.
"The time when it is so hard is when she is really poorly.
"I told her: “If I can take it away from you I would,” but she said: “I don’t want anybody else to be ill.”
“We are bracing ourselves for a very different Christmas this year, but hopefully in 2023 we will be the other side of this nightmare.
“There are so many twists and turns with this horrible disease, we just have to be as strong as we can snd have all the faith in the world."
To donate to Esther’s fundraising page, click here
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