'Hope is all we have, but we've got to think about spending as much time with her as we can'

Parents' anguish over second leukaemia diagnosis for child

- BY SUSAN NEWTON

IN 2020, aged only two years old, Tallulah Taylor was diagnosed with leukaemia for the first time.

Exhibiting no symptoms, her family was enjoying a sunny day in the garden whilst Tallulah’s mum, Michaela, was 38 weeks pregnant. However, it was later on in the day when dad Ben noticed the tot had two swollen “golf balls” on the side of her face.

And that's when Michaela knew something was seriously wrong.

“She wasn't bruising and she wasn’t ill,” the 35-year-old mum from Accrington said.

“She was sick once about three days before, just out of nowhere, and then she was absolutely fine.

“There was nothing, she was fine apart from these lymph nodes that just appeared out of nowhere.”

She added: “We knew as soon as we saw her. Her dad was trying to convince me it was nothing, he said it was probably just a throat infection but I knew, I knew straight away - I said she’s got cancer.”

The couple took Tallulah to A&E at Royal Blackburn Hospital that evening and health professionals undertook some blood tests to find out the answers. At around 3am and heavily pregnant, Michaela headed home for some much needed rest but was awoken with news no parent wants to hear - their child has leukaemia.