THE mother of a nine-year-old girl bravely battling cancer says the family is struggling with mixed emotions as they face new uncertainty over her future.

Fighter Lily Mae Filmer went into Acorns Children’s Hospice for end-of-life-care, after battling acute lymphoblastic leukaemia for three years but days later she woke up from a coma and was moved back to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Mum Kayleigh Chapman, from Drakes Broughton, said the family were excited that Lily had shown signs of improvement but were still unsure what will happen next.

She said: “We are so excited to see Lily’s changes. We are also very aware that these are early days and we could easily end up back at the hospice. She still has her Do Not Resuscitate in place, but we always said Lily will do what she wants, and she’s shown us all exactly what she does best - surprise us all.

“We will let Lily lead the way and we will always put what’s best for Lily above everything else. It was clear when she made the changes on Monday that we were no longer where was best for her, as the only reason we were at Acorns was to spend Lily’s days/weeks together as a family. That clearly isn’t the case at this moment in time.

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“We still have a very long and difficult journey ahead and also welcoming her baby sister in the next few weeks will stretch us even further, but we have all come so far since her diagnosis in May 2017. We are a strong family unit and have a lot of support from friends and the community also. I want to say a massive thank you to everyone for keeping us all in your thoughts and prayers. Please keep going as it’s clearly working. We are living in a world where children with cancer are given such harsh chemicals, designed for adults, it’s no wonder her body has been battered but we are so happy to see where she takes us from here.

“We will never get the Lily we had, but she will still have the best life possible, should we eventually be able to take her home. No one should have to prepare to watch their baby die. We had everything sorted for her funeral, her outfit, her final journey and resting place. We know that we all have a fight, but together we can fight, whatever the outcome may be.”

Young Lily rang the end of treatment bell in August last year, after fighting her illness since the age of five. But, four months after getting the all-clear she relapsed.