A couple who postponed their wedding after their baby girl was diagnosed with cancer have revealed the tot is going from strength to strength – and is set to be a flower girl at the postponed nuptials.
Nadia Hopkins, 33, and fiancé Lewis Burnett, 32, first became concerned when their 20-month-old daughter, Molly, developed a limp in September 2022.
They were devastated when tests revealed she had leukaemia and immediately cancelled their wedding plans to focus on her treatment.
But the tot, from Aberdeen, is bravely battling the disease, undergoing gruelling chemotherapy and now is making “amazing” progress with her treatment.
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Her positive prognosis means she is now set to walk down the aisle with her proud mum – with the toddler acting as flower girl.
“Before diagnosis, Molly was a happy content little girl with no common signs of leukaemia,” Nadia, a nurse, told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“She had no health issues, no concerns – nothing.”
When Molly started limping, her parents took her to A&E, with doctors initially believing it to be a viral infection affecting her hips.
But when she continued to deteriorate – refusing to walk and starting to crawl instead – an X-ray found a fracture in her femur bone.
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Molly’s leg failed to heal over the following weeks, with her parents heartbroken to see her suffering, and they took her for further tests.
Nadia said: “I pleaded with them [the doctors] that something was not right.
“They decided because it was so far down the line from this break in her leg and she wasn’t making progress with walking, they took a blood sample from her.
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“On 11 November 2022, our whole world crashed.
“Molly’s blood results showed that she had leukaemia.
“She was only 22 months old.”
A bone marrow biopsy that week confirmed she had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia – cancer of the blood.
Nadia said: “I felt numb. Everything went blurry – I was in total shock.
“We were all devastated and none of us wanted to believe it.
“It broke me and Lewis – we never thought this could happen.
“It was like our world seemed to stop spinning while the world around us carried on.”
Molly started chemotherapy treatment and a course of steroids, spending her second birthday and Christmas 2022 in hospital.
She has also undergone intense physiotherapy to try and rebuild her relationship with walking.
Despite the gruelling treatment, the tot has incredibly managed to stay positive.
Her mum said: “Each day Molly still wakes up with a smile.
“She has gone through so much and been knocked down so hard sometimes, but she gets back up and fights right back.
“It’s been extremely distressing [watching her go through this].
“Every day we wake up wishing we could take this awful cancer away from her.
“Words cannot even describe how hard it has been for me, Lewis and both our families – but most of all how hard it’s been for Molly.
“But she is still fighting, showing strength, showing resilience, showing kindness and love, still smiling her infectious, beautiful smile.
“Some days it’s Molly that gets us through the day.”
The toddler is currently making great progress with her treatment.
Nadia said: “The progress that Molly has made in a year is amazing she has stunned us all.
“She is an incredibly strong little girl who continues to thrive.
“She has fought for a year and will continue to fight for the next year and a half to kick this cancer.”
After initially postponing their wedding – which had been planned for March 2023 – Nadia and Lewis have been spurred on by Molly’s progress to rebook their nuptials.
Now, their little girl is counting down the days until she can celebrate their big day, now planned for October 2024.
Nadia added: “Now Molly is in the maintenance part of her treatment and with 18 months left of treatment to go, we decided to rebook our wedding.
“She will be nearly two years into her treatment with six months left to go of treatment.
“When we told her she was so excited to be our little special flower girl.
“She said ‘Mama I’ll wear a pretty white dress like you and get my hair done’.
“My heart just melted.
“Seeing how far our beautiful special princess has come makes us even more proud of her.”
READ MORE: ‘We’re raising £250,000 to save our toddler – strange symptoms were sign of deadly CANCER’
