A mum has told how her baby daughter came within hours of dying after doctors repeatedly dismissed her worsening symptoms as normal newborn behaviour.
Little Molly Wardle-Hampton was just 12 weeks old when a scan revealed a massive brain tumour covering the entire right side of her head.
Her mum Corinne, a community nurse from North Wales, had been begging medics for help since Molly was three weeks old, as the tiny tot suffered seizures, vomiting and a terrifying fixed gaze.
By the time they were finally sent for a CT scan, Molly’s head growth had shot “off the scale” – and the family’s world fell apart.
But now, amid an ongoing battle to become a healthy child, Molly and her family are preparing to celebrate her fourth Christmas – despite an MRI scan looming in December.
“We love Christmas – Molly adores that time,” Corinne told Need To Know.
“We are especially excited as she is more understanding this year, but we have an MRI scan in December which is always a massive worry.
“We try not to dwell on the potentials of what could happen as it would just consume us.
“We will take what comes when it comes.”
The special season is especially poignant following all that Molly has been through, with her health woes dating back to just a few months after her birth, with her mum noting the worrying symptoms.
Corinne said: “Every time I raised my concerns with doctors and nurses about Molly, they were dismissed.
“She would scream every time I put her down, as if she was in pain.
“Then both her eyes started turning outwards.
“When her head growth charted off the scale, we were sent for a CT scan.
“That’s when we were given the worst news imaginable – Molly had a brain tumour.”
The scan showed a huge ependymoma and Molly was rushed by blue-light ambulance to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, where medics warned she might not survive the night.
Corinne said: “For the first time ever, she laid on her back, looked out of the window and babbled.
“I cried.
“We were told that if we’d waited any longer, that could have been her last day alive.”
Molly endured nine hours of emergency brain surgery to remove the tumour, then went through a year-long international clinical trial.
An MRI in January 2023 brought hope when it showed no regrowth – but heartbreak returned two years later when scans revealed the cancer was back.
Surgeons operated again in February this year, finding two more tumours.
Doctors urged the family to agree to 33 rounds of radiotherapy under daily general anaesthetic, targeting the whole right side of Molly’s brain.
But the side-effects would be devastating.
Corinne said: “We were told this treatment would affect the processing part of her brain and that Molly would need support for the rest of her life.
“It was an impossible decision, to put her through such aggressive treatment on the chance the cancer might come back.
“We decided to watch and wait.”
Now three, brave Molly is in pre-school but continues to battle long-term effects of both her tumours and her treatment.
She has Global Development Delay, high-frequency hearing loss, uses a hearing aid and has ongoing speech and language therapy.
Corinne said: “We’ve watched her battle through more in her short life than many adults ever do.
“She’s strong, cheeky, and full of life. But we now face a lifetime of challenges and uncertainty.
“As a nurse, I’ve read the research, or rather, the lack of it.
“Ependymoma is so poorly understood.
“There are subtypes with very different outcomes, but not enough data.
“We’ve been told it can be cured, but nobody really knows.
“That’s terrifying.
“If we want children like Molly to have a real future, we need better research, better treatment options, and more hope.
“That’s why I’m supporting Brain Tumour Research’s Christmas Appeal.
“If you can, make a donation – every pound helps fund the breakthroughs our children so desperately need.”
Molly continues to be seen by a long list of specialists, from physiotherapists to audiologists, and has an Individual Development Plan at school.
Corinne said: “Molly is generally OK.
“She is under a few specialties at the moment such as physio for having one side weaker than the other, audiology to help with hearing loss, ophthalmology and the three-monthly monitoring scans.
“She also has an IDP in school to help with her delay and additional needs in school.”
Despite a gruelling start to the year, the family are determined to make Christmas magical.
Corinne said of their plans: “We have booked a few things with family and friends.
“Seeing Santa in the Trafford Centre, will be going to the Northern Lights Manchester and doing some Christmas pottery painting at a local sweets and painting shop.”
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