Ivy-Louise is finally cancer free after fundraising appeal raised £200,000

A little girl whose parents appealed to raise £200,000 to send her to America for pioneering cancer treatment has now been given the all clear.
Scans have shown that Ivy-Louise Wilkinson from Ackworth is now clear from neuroblastoma.Scans have shown that Ivy-Louise Wilkinson from Ackworth is now clear from neuroblastoma.
Scans have shown that Ivy-Louise Wilkinson from Ackworth is now clear from neuroblastoma.

Scans have shown that Ivy-Louise Wilkinson from Ackworth is now clear from neuroblastoma.

Her family had been given the devastating news that she would have a 50/50 chance of survival when she was diagnosed at just 14 months old.

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Affecting babies and young children, neuroblastoma develops from nerve cells left behind from the development in the womb.

Ivy-Louise is finally cancer free.Ivy-Louise is finally cancer free.
Ivy-Louise is finally cancer free.

Ivy-Louise underwent surgery to remove a tumour, and has undergone gruelling rounds of chemotherapy, high-dose chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Now two, the youngster and her family have been making regular trips to New York where she has been receiving a new vaccine which can help keep patients free from a relapse.

It was made possible by a huge fundraising effort by her family to help pay for the treatment.

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And her parents have been given the news they had been hoping for after being told that Ivy-Louise is now in remission.

Her mother, Kerri-Lee, posted on Facebook that she was “over the moon” and told the Express: “The treatment in the UK got Ivy clear from neuroblastoma but I think the vaccine is helping keep it away, as it is still in trial it’s hard to say if it has worked, but having regular scans helps us know that it is not returning.

“Ivy is doing amazing, she has three more of the vaccines to go, she has repeat scans every three months for the next two years to make sure she is still cancer free.

“When she flies back out in September she will be having a bone marrow test done to make sure it is also still clear so she can have the last three vaccines.

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“The scans we have every three months still makes us as nervous as ever, neuroblastoma is such a horrible disease and can return when it likes, the days up to the results day are the longest days in the world.

“Every time they tell us Ivy is still clear from cancer you feel a massive weight lift off your shoulders and are grateful that Ivy can continue to live a happy cancer-free life.

“She’s starting nursery in January - it’s a day we thought we’d never see so we are thankful for each and every day as parents.”