‘Ellie faces it all with such bravery, she is a true inspiration’

A BRAVE young Stamullen girl who is battling a form of childhood cancer and was forced to spend Christmas in hospital has been described as a “warrior” by her proud parents.

Six-year-old Ellie O'Connell was recently diagnosed with ALL acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow.

Thankfully, ALL has a high rate of curability but Ellie and her family are facing a tough journey ahead for the next two years as the little girl continues treatment and recovers from her illness.

Ellie’s diagnosis came just two days after her parents, Darragh and Ruth bought a new house in Stamullen turning what should’ve been the family's first Christmas in their dream home into a nightmare scenario instead.

The little girl has already undergone multiple lumbar punctures, bone marrow extractions, blood transfusions and a round of chemotherapy treatment while losing her beautiful long hair but is said to be taking it all in her stride.

Despite the devastating diagnosis, Ellie's family remain positive and are doing everything to ensure she makes a full recovery according to her mum Ruth who said;

“We got the news that is every parent's nightmare but ALL has a very high success rate, it's treatable and we are staying as positive as we can.

“It will be a two-year journey and the most intense part is the first six months. The first month is said to be the toughest but she is already smashing that, she is such a trooper and she just faces it all with such bravery, she is a true inspiration.”

The loving parents were hoping to spend their first Christmas as a family in their home but unfortunately little Ellie was forced to celebrate the occasion in hospital as Ruth explains:

“We did everything we could not to spend Christmas in hospital but the flu was doing the rounds and Ellie became unwell and you can't take any chances with her immune system being so low while she is going through treatment so she was admitted on Christmas Eve but the staff and parents of other children were just amazing so we made the best of it.”

Ruth says she decided to bring Ellie to an out of hours doctors service after she noticed her daughter was very pale and had developed a small rash, it was this quick thinking that led to an early diagnosis.

“She was pale for a couple of weeks but she is sallow so it wasn't that unusual,” explains the mum of four.

“Then I discovered a couple of non-blanching spots on her skin but they disappeared fairly quickly,” added Ruth.

“She then developed a cough and had a couple of mild temperatures and I thought she is obviously brewing something so I brought her to doctor on call who didn't think it was anything to be worried out but referred her to Temple Street as a precaution.”

Test results confirmed little Ellie had Leukemia leaving her parents distraught.

“When the doctor told us she had Leukemia, I could feel the legs going from under me,” said Ruth. “I felt sick to the pit of my stomach and I thought this can't be happening,” she added.

Ruth says she and her husband Darragh have been blown away by support from the local community many of whom were strangers having just moved into the area.

“You know the saying it takes a village, I never understood that saying until recently. Everyone has rallied around us from our neighbours to the priest and the local GAA mums to the choir, even the local coffee shop did a fundraiser. We could not have moved beside nicer people.

“Our local creche in Stamullen even did a fundraiser and that now covers my childcare for six months.

“The parents of Ellie's classmates in school have also been fantastic. I also can't give enough praise to Crumlin Hospital, the paediatric oncology department in Drogheda Hospital, Aoibhinn's Pink Tie and the Irish Cancer Society.

“The support from people has kept us from spiraling.”

Ruth says she doesn’t know where her little girl gets her resilience from but she has it in bucket loads, adding:

“She is the most bubbly, caring, outgoing little girl. If Ellie got a box of sweets, she'd give them out to everyone else first and then she'd have one. When we were going to the hospital, she was bringing treats for everybody, she was making pictures and making everyone bracelets.

“She is taking this all in her stride and I really believe she will go on to do amazing things in life because of this.”

Ruth has also praised parents of fellow child cancer patients in Crumlin Hospital where Ellie is receiving treatment.

“The parents in Crumlin are amazing and can't do enough to help, it's a case of you are on this journey but you are not on it alone.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help support the family while they are caring for Ellie in hospital. Ellie’s medical bills are being taken care of the loss of one of her parent’s incomes will be a huge challenge in what will be an already testing time. Any donation will be gratefully appreciated.

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