FIVE-year-old Bonnie Spence has been given less than a year to live after doctors mistook her deadly cancer as a ‘broken arm'.
“Not in our wildest nightmares would we have thought we’d be in this position,” her dad Iain, 41, said.
The little girl from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was left in because of the .
Initially, her mum Zoe, 30, thought might have been a break.
Doctors in the area agreed, putting the lump down to a possible , and sent the tot home with her arm in a sling.
However, Bonnie’s arm kept on swelling – leaving her in even more agony.
Two months later, after several hospital appointments in Lancashire, mum Zoe decided to drive her daughter three-and-a-half hours to Newcastle, near her father’s home.
“Bonnie was rolling around in pain,” Iain said.
They decided to take her to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where Iain said doctors took one look at her and knew she had a .
Bonnie was diagnosed with stage four rhabdoid in February, a rare and aggressive form of .
According to doctors, the pressure on Bonnie’s arm had become so bad that it led to , an increase in pressure inside a muscle, which restricts blood flow and causes pain.
Just five days after her diagnosis, her parents had to make the difficult decision to allow doctors to the youngster’s left arm.
Now doctors predict the five-year-old has less than a year to live, with the cancer having spread to her .
Zoe said: “In the space of nine weeks, it went from a suspected broken arm to now terminal cancer with only a year given.
“This news absolutely shattered my whole world.
“She’s on chemotherapy to prolong her life, but we have been told the chemotherapy will stop working around the 28-week mark, and we will have no other options left.”;
The mum of five now faces expensive three-and-a-half hour long trips to see her daughter, who remains with her father in Newcastle.
On top of this, HGV driver dad Iain and NHS midwife stepmum Caroline face difficulties paying their bills as they try to stay with the tot during her final months.
Iain is only on £118.75 per week statutory sick pay and Caroline’s occupational sick pay runs out in October, meaning they could face the difficult decision to return to work while Bonnie is still at home.
Iain said: “It’s not the most ideal situation with her mother being over there – she’s never been away from her mum.
“Everyone understands that unfortunately this is the best way to do it.
“Her mum’s trying to get over as much as she can, and we’re trying to do the best as we can for her as well.”;
‘Just a lump on the arm'
Stepmum Caroline, 32, said: “She’s having to pay for caravan parks and Airbnbs to stay in, and because of Bonnie’s needs they need to be adapted that can fit the wheelchair with one arm and things like that.
“That increases the cost of Airbnbs that are available to her.”;
Iain added that he hopes Bonnie’s case raises awareness of rhabdoid sarcoma.
He said: “It just presented as a lump on the arm.”
Bonnie's dad has launched a GoFundMe to cover his living costs and expenses.
Meanwhile, her mum, Zoe has also launched a GoFundMe for travel and days out.
Collectively, the fundraisers have raised over £25,000 at the time of writing.
