Bonnie Spence, five, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of child cancer known as Rhabdoid Sarcoma after she had initially been told the pain in her arm was a sprain
A little girl was rushed to hospital with a lump on her arm was reassured it was a sprain, and later found out she had only months to live.
Little Bonnie Spence, five, found the odd lump on her left arm in December and was sent home with it in a sling. She returned to hospital a few days later when it continued to hurt and this time was given an MRI scan. To the horror of her father Iain Spence and stepmother, Caroline, it showed she had a tumour and she was diagnosed with Rhabdoid Sarcoma Cancer, an incredibly rare form of the disease which affects eight children a year in the UK.
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Bonnie later had her arm amputated and has been given months to live. The family have started a GoFundMe to pay for days out so they have happy memories of the little girl.
Bonnie, who is being treated in Newcastle, wrote on the fundraiser: “ When I woke up after the operation, I was really upset.
“I didn’t like not having my arm and was really worried about how I would play on the swings and if people would laugh at me. Daddy and Caroline made me feel much better and I’m coping with my one arm really well now.
“After 10 days in hospital I started chemotherapy. Chemotherapy has made me lose all my gorgeous long blonde hair, which is making me sad. They have given me so many medicines to try and shrink the ones in my lungs to give me more time with my family but it won’t cure me.
“Finally after 21 days in hospital, I have been allowed to come home with Daddy, Caroline, Jennifer and my half brother Alistair. I have loved being back home.
“Daddy and Caroline aren’t going to work at the moment to help look after me as looking after me is really hard work. I have a lot of daily medications, temperature checks, NG tube and central line care, hospital appointments, chemo every two weeks.
“Daddy and Caroline want to buy me the practical daily things that I need as well as some little luxuries to make things nicer for me. We would all like to go on some lovely day trips out as a family to make happy memories as well as helping with the increased bills coming in.
“Any help that anyone can offer would be amazing to help give me the happiest time that I can with the small amount of time I have left.”
The fundraiser has so far raised more than £13,000 of the family’s £16,000 target. Bonnie’s stepmother told MailOnline: “It’s been horrific. It’s been really tough.
“’A lot has happened in a small space of time, it’s hard to process. It’s really upsetting having to watch her with her little one arm, trying to do everyday tasks that we take for granted.
“We’re just trying to navigate giving her the best time we have left with her. We want the entire time to be really special for her.
‘If her body responds to the chemo, then we’ve been told we have six to 12 months, 12 months as the absolute max. If it doesn’t respond to it, then they say they’ll stop it and she’ll have a month or two after.
