Aria is four years old and lives in Derry/Londonderry with her mum Gillian, dad Gavin and older sister Isla (8). In Summer 2023, Aria was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (A.L.L) and began treatment in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. Aria’s family are sharing their story to raise awareness of the impact of childhood cancer and the need for support.

It’s life changing, and it makes you value life so much more. Obviously, we would love this to never have happened, but we’ll look back on it and think of the memories that we’ve made and how far Aria has come and that’ll make her stronger for the future.

We went to Ibiza for a family holiday at the start of July 2023. Aria seemed fine. Everything was normal, but just towards the end of the holiday we started noticing her moods would change. Aria had just turned two so she wasn’t able to communicate what she was feeling. She would regularly have bad dreams or wake up in a sweat. She just wasn’t herself. We later took a drive to Athlone. She was not walking very far and always wanted up on my shoulders – she was tiring very easily. We took Aria to the GP as she was struggling on her feet, but at this stage they weren’t overly concerned. As another week progressed, we noticed that her eating habits changed. The big one then for us was when she started to turn very pale.

We had no idea. Your mind never goes there. We just thought she was run down, and she never complained.

We were shopping in M&S and Aria was beside the freezers. She turned around and her lips were blue. We phoned out of hours and were told to bring her straight over. They suspected a viral infection and told us to keep an eye on her, nothing really to worry about. Aria was very, very tired.

On the Thursday of that same week, I dropped Aria to my mum and dad and in my heart I just knew there was something wrong. I didn’t want to leave her, but I had to get to work. As soon as I got to my desk, I phoned the GP and just said, “Doctor, you need to see my daughter, there’s just something not quite right.” My wife and I work in the same school, and for whatever reason, I don’t know if it was a mother’s instinct, she came down to my classroom while I was on hold with the GP that morning. We were on the same page with worry and Gillian just said, “I’m taking her.” I stayed in school and Gillian took Aria over to the GP. After lunch, my name came over the school intercom – I immediately knew that something was wrong with my daughter.

It all happened very quickly from here. The GP had referred Aria to the hospital for an urgent blood test after noticing spots along the bottom of her knee. I met Gillian at Altnagelvin. Aria was in the bed sleeping. The doctors had said they needed to talk to both of us together.

I never suspected cancer.

I just remember Gillian’s only response being “How do we treat it?” The doctor said, you need to go to Belfast, and you need to go now. We didn’t even have time to process it. Due to ongoing strike action at the time, we had to wait until the next morning for an ambulance to be available to take Aria to Belfast. Aria was then transferred to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children. Her mum travelled with her, and I followed them in the car. Once in Belfast, the specialist team confirmed the A.L.L diagnosis and laid out what was ahead of us.

We were told it was likely Aria could have had cancer for a couple of weeks or even months before symptoms appeared. Leukaemia can be missed for a while. If you notice anything wrong with your child and they’re not themselves, a blood test can make the difference. The blood results had shown Aria’s platelets, neutrophils, white blood cells and haemoglobin were all very low. She was very, very sick – 90% of her cells were leukaemia cells.

Aria has had chemotherapy, steroid and antibiotic therapy. She has been through so much but thankfully responded well to treatment. She is currently in the maintenance phase and will ring the bell in January 2026. During the initial front-line phase of Aria’s treatment, she was getting chemo every single week. In some cases, she was hooked up for four or five hours, which was just hard to watch and hard to be part of. She couldn’t enjoy her food and relied on supplements and juices, but the dieticians were brilliant. She was on steroids for 35 days straight at the very beginning of the treatment and that was very difficult, she was unrecognisable.

By the time she finishes her treatment, she’ll have been on more than 20 different types of medication.

Aria has never complained. This is normal for her now. And in many years to come, she may not remember this part of our journey. Two and a half years is a very long time, but the treatment has given Aria her childhood back and allowed us to get back to some kind of normal life as well. We don’t think too far ahead. We just take every day as it comes – you do anything for your child.

Daisy Lodge has also been our little escape. It’s amazing, and to meet other families who are going through something similar or who are at different stages of their journey has been a huge support to myself and Gillian. In the early days, talking to families really helped us see what was ahead for us, and now we’re able to do the same for other families who’ve just been diagnosed. It does get easier, and the support is out there. Aria has been lucky to celebrate two birthdays in Daisy Lodge. The first time we went, she had no hair, she had a nose tube in and she couldn’t eat solid food. During our most recent visit, she was a normal four-year-old.

Newcastle, Co Down, will always have a special connection for our family. I think we’ll go there every year now for the rest of our days.

The first day our Cancer Support Specialist, Gemma, came out to the house, the girls took to her straight away. Gemma met our older daughter, Isla, for individual support sessions. Every time Gemma came out to the school, Isla was so excited. Having that person outside of the family for Isla to speak to was so important for her processing of her sister’s diagnosis. Gemma was able to communicate with Isla in a way that helped her understand, a way that Gillian and I couldn’t. She was amazing. She told us about Daisy Lodge and organised our first visit. Gemma has been a lifeline for us, helping us cope, giving us things to look forward to and making memories for our girls.

Isla is eight now, turning nine in December, and has just started P5. She has been brilliant through the whole journey. When Aria was first diagnosed, Isla found it very difficult. She didn’t see a lot of us for the first couple of months as we were back and forth to Belfast and she spent a good bit of time with family and friends. Isla is a great big sister – the two of them are very different and they do have their wee fights, but they love each other. When Aria’s in hospital with either myself or Gillian, she doesn’t ask for the other parent, she asks for Isla. She’s her only sister and the most important person in her life. They’ll always have each other, and we’re so grateful to everyone who has recognised Isla’s role in Aria’s journey.

Aria has recently started nursery and is loving every minute of it. There was hesitancy for us as parents with the infection risk, but at the same time, we want to let her live, be around her peers and develop the skills that she’s missed out on because she hasn’t been able to go to birthday parties or soft play while on treatment.

If I can take any positives from what we’ve been through, it’s how kind and caring people can be. It’s part of their job, yes, but they don’t just do their job. They go above and beyond with their support and care. Meeting people like Gemma, the team at Daisy Lodge, the nurses, the doctors, the porters, the cleaners. Everybody involved in our journey has been brilliant and our outlook on life has completely changed since Aria got sick.

We’re very, very proud of her. She has inspired me, and inspired Gillian, and everybody who has been in contact with her. She’s a warrior and so brave. As our treatment journey comes to an end, Gillian and I will never stop wanting to support Cancer Fund for Children. We’ll always want to do what we can to help other families. If you’re not in this world, you don’t realise all the charities that exist and the help that’s out there. We chose to accept a lot of help and we’re really glad that we did.

Aria’s diagnosis has brought us closer together as a family and is a constant reminder that if we can get through this, we’ll get through anything.

Help us be there for more families like Aria’s by making a donation today!