Mum 'petrified' for daughter's future after transplant

Lily Filmer, aged eight, will have her long-anticipated transplant on May 26 – ‘as long as everything goes well’ with her radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Mum Kayleigh Chapman said: “I’m petrified. I’ve been on edge the last few weeks and been having panic attacks and anxiety issues.

“I’m so scared that she won’t make it though. She’s coped so well mentally since relapse but it’s clear her body is struggling a lot.

“This is what is going to save her life but at the same time she will have to fight for everything that she deserves.”

Before her transplant, Lily will have three days of morning and afternoon full body radiotherapy which will leave her infertile - as Covid-19 has stopped all unnecessary operations, so she can’t have an ovary removed before her transplant.

Then she will have chemo for three days to ensure all leukaemia and bone marrow cells are destroyed.

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Mrs Chapman added: “We’re not looking forward to it at all and are very aware that Lily will get a lot worse before she gets better.

“There are lifelong risks for her, including not being able to have her own children. It’s hard to make her go through it all, but we have no other choice.

“She talks about the future and adopting babies, but I think she’s too scared to ask about the possibility of her not making it through.

“It’s difficult for us all but we have to put our brave faces on and hope that she makes it through.

“She’s a fighter, she’s already shown us that for the past three years.

“I have no choice but to hope she pulls through and put my faith in the amazing team at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.”

We’ve previously reported how Lily had been searching for a donor after the acute lymphoblastic leukaemia she thought she had beaten returned.