17 January 2023 , 06:55
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A three-year-old girl has tragically been given just months to live after receiving a second cancer diagnosis.
Lily Harley, 3, was given her first diagnosis with the disease last year after her parents noticed changes in her behaviour over the Christmas period in 2021, reports Grimsby Live.
An MRI scan showed she had a rare form of cancer, Ependymomas, which grows on the brain and spinal cord. It is rarely seen in children.
After 20 hours of surgery at Sheffield Children's Hospital, Lily's cancer was eventually removed and she was asked to take part in a clinical trial in Germany.
Lily then underwent 32 different treatments in the city of Essen, and at the end it appeared as though the cancer had gone all together.
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge him
She went for a routine check up in September to see how the treatment was working, which showed she was all clear.
Dad Josh Harley, 27, and mum Emily Morton, 26, said the diagnosis has left them "devastated"But another MRI scan taken last week sadly revealed her cancer had returned, with new tumours discovered at the base of her back, on her chest and in parts of her brain fluid.
The form the cancer has taken means it cannot be treated, and Lily has now tragically been given just months to live.
Detailing his and the family's emotional turmoil after being given the tragic news about their only child, father Josh Harley, 27 said: "When they told us, Emily and I were devastated. Me being a bloke, it sort of went in one ear and out the other, I was trying to listen to what we were being told.
"The hardest part of it all has been telling our family though. When you get the news you try to digest it and you can cope with that, but telling everyone was horrible, especially as we thought the MRI would come back clear."
The family have set up a GoFundMe for Lily and say they have received an "amazing" responseJosh said thinking about life without his beloved daughter "overcomes me sometimes", and shared he and wife Emily Morton, 26, had already decided they will move house following her passing as "there will be too many bad memories in here".
The family have now set up a GoFundMe page to try and make what time Emily has left even more special.
The couple say the response has been "amazing" and revealed they had raised £36,000 so far, with one kind donor reportedly saying they will also offer a flight in their helicopter "over wherever she wants to go".
"I'm hoping, as well as giving her the best send off we can, this goes some way to raising awareness about Lily's cancer and shows how dangerous it is.", Josh said
Anyone wanting to donate to Lily's GoFundMe can click here.
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