An eight-year-old Aberdeenshire youngster has been praised for her bravery after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Aurora Farren’s life ground to a halt on March 1, 2023, when doctors diagnosed her with a pituitary gland tumour.
The Fyvie youngster spent her eighth birthday in the high-dependency unit at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital last year as she underwent her first round of chemotherapy.
Over the last 12 months, she has endured a total of four rounds of chemotherapy – each lasting five days – and four blood transfusions.
She also underwent six weeks of proton beam therapy at The Christie Hospital in Manchester, where she was fitted with a made-to-measure mask to ensure the correct part of her head was targeted during the radiotherapy.
The north-east youngster chose to paint the mask to look like Marvel cartoon villain Venom to help give her superpowers during her gruelling treatment.
Almost a year on from her ordeal, Aurora is now cancer-free and is enjoying life as a happy healthy pupil in P4 at Fyvie Primary School.
‘Aurora took it all in her stride’
Her mum Jenna, 34 said explaining the gruelling side effects to Aurora was tough; especially when it came down to her losing her hair.
She said: “It was just absolutely devastating.
“The cells they’d found were a mix of aggressive and less aggressive cells.
“It was hard to explain to Aurora that the medicine she needed to treat the cancer would make her beautiful hair fall out.”
She added: “Nothing prepares you for seeing the proton beam therapy machine.
“It’s like something from a sci-fi movie. Aurora wore the mesh mask she’d painted and had to lie completely still for 20 minutes during each of the 30 rounds of treatment.
“Once again, Aurora took it all in her stride.”
Concerns surrounding Aurora’s health first arose in Spring 2022 after she developed an unquenchable thirst, began passing urine more often than normal and had stopped growing.
She was referred to specialists where tests showed Aurora had a rare condition known as diabetes insipidus.
This can be caused by a chemical called vasopressin which helps regulate the amount of fluid in the body as well as damage to the hypothalamus or pituitary gland.
Aurora’s paediatric consultant Dr Craig Oxley closely monitored her, quickly discovering that her pituitary stalk was growing in size during each scan.
Aurora’s diagnosis
A lumbar puncture confirmed that young Aurora did have cancer.
After undergoing chemotherapy in Aberdeen, the family travelled to Manchester to begin proton beam therapy at The Christie, home to the first high energy proton beam therapy centre in the UK.
Armed with her favourite music by Indie rock band Nothing But Thieves, Aurora completed 30 rounds of radiotherapy with zero fuss.
Jenna added: “Aurora helped get us through it. Even on her eighth birthday she just lay on the hospital bed and put up with it. There was no fuss. Aurora’s sister Ada was great too. Ada didn’t complain even though I was away from home in hospital with Aurora for long periods of time.”
In August last year, was cheered by doctors and nurses as she rang the bell at the hospital in Manchester to mark the end of treatment; just weeks before doing the same thing at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.
Aurora chosen Race for Life ambassador
In recognition of her bravery, Aurora has been selected to sound the horn at the start of this year’s Race for Life in Aberdeen.
On June 30, Aurora will stand at the start line at the city’s beach esplanade as her proud parents, Jenna, 34, and David Farren, 41, and her sister Ada, six watch on.
Mum Jenna, praised Aurora’s resilience, saying: “Words can’t express how much we love Aurora and how grateful we are to still have her with us.
“Aurora has been nothing short of amazing through everything. She hasn’t complained or made a fuss. She has just powered through.
“Even on the hardest of days, I was in absolute awe of how she coped with everything life handed her in the past year.
Aurora inspires mum in Race for Life
“From being told she had cancer to spending her birthday in the high dependency unit to losing her beautiful red hair and spending weeks upon weeks far away from home, Aurora has been a shining star.
“Why do I race for life? I’ll be proud to cross the finish line at Race for Life for Aurora this year.”
Lisa Adams, Cancer Research UK’s spokeswoman in Scotland, said: “We are grateful to Aurora and all their family for their support and know their story will make an impact on everyone who hears it.
“No matter how cancer affects us, life is worth racing for. Sadly nearly 1 in 2 of us will get cancer in our lifetime.**** Race for Life has the power not only to transform lives, but to save them. We’re proud that Race for Life has already helped double survival rates in the UK.
“We’d love for as many people as possible across Scotland to join us at Race for Life.”
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