Little Charlotte Carrington underwent a 10-hour surgery to remove a tumour after being rushed to hospital
A young girl constantly being sick led to a shocking diagnosis of a brain tumour. Charlotte Carrington, seven, was just four years old when she underwent a 10-hour surgery to remove a benign pilocytic astrocytoma tumour after being rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).
Despite initial reassurances that the tumour had only a five per cent chance of returning, it grew back just six months later. Following 16 months of chemotherapy, Charlotte is now stable and returning to a normal life.
To show their gratitude, Charlotte and her family are participating in the RBC Race for the Kids on October 12, 2024, to raise funds for the new Children’s Cancer Centre at GOSH.
Her mother, Clare, 40, from Romford, Essex, said: “Everything is good at the moment. The last scan was stable and you don’t want to say your life is back to normal, but it has been.
“Suddenly it’s not part of our lives, you’re not constantly worrying. She’s back at school full-time and like every other seven year old. Every time we’ve had a scan, our odds have improved. Hopefully it’s behind us now – it’s a very surreal feeling to be normal again. It does change you as a person.”
Charlotte’s ordeal began in Easter 2021 when she started vomiting sporadically and dragging her legs. “She’d be sick in the morning randomly and then over eight weeks it started happening more with other symptoms as well,” she explained.
“It was coming out of Covid so it was difficult to get appointments. Initially they say it could be different things such as acid reflux or anxiety and it took two months to get a diagnosis. They tell you it might be this or might be that and you can see her getting worse and worse – it’s frustrating and worrying. We were devastated but at the same time we could breathe.”
After being rushed to GOSH in June 2021, Charlotte had the tumour removed. Clare said: “It was very positive after and they were pleased with how it went.
“At that point, they said they thought it was benign. We were told there would be a lot of swelling on the brain and she couldn’t walk properly at that point. She had a feeding tube and lost the use of one side of her body.
“Results then confirmed it was benign and she was improving in her health. She had some physio and gradually built up strength. She was discharged and so much stronger.”
With Charlotte back at home, Clare and Scott believed their daughter’s ordeal was over. But six months later, their worst fears came true when scans showed the tumour had returned.
Clare said: “We felt lucky, we thought we could put it all behind us and move forward and wait for the scars to heal.”
Charlotte’s symptoms began in the Easter of 2021 when she started being sick sporadically and began dragging her legs. She added: “It was a complete bolt and knocked us for six. We weren’t expecting it at all, it was really hard. We were told it was still benign but there was regrowth and because it was so close to the brain stem they couldn’t reoperate so the only option was chemotherapy.”
“They then told us she’d need 18 months of chemotherapy in January. We didn’t know what to expect. You’re then bombarded with information. Great Ormond Street were fantastic but it is very overwhelming.”
Despite the sudden change in routine, Charlotte and her family were able to adapt quickly. Clare said: “We have two other children and we were adamant that we wanted their lives to be as normal as possible.
“We’re fortunate to have flexible jobs and we adapted and it just became life. It just became routine, as much as you don’t want it to be. The hardest part was seeing her get very weak very quickly. She became very thin and a shadow of herself. She was very pale and her hair thinned – it fell out later down the line. She was taking anti-sickness and having blood transfusions.”
“Her school was fantastic and we were very fortunate in that aspect. It was lovely that they kept her involved but she did miss a lot of school – a lot of the fun things as well as the everyday things.”
After a gruelling 16 months of treatment, Charlotte was able to cease her chemotherapy in May 2023 following two scans that indicated her condition had stabilised. Her mother Clare shared: “]For six months after, she was still quite susceptible to illness and needed to build up her strength and her fitness levels. But everything is good at the moment!”
Now at the age of seven, Charlotte is thriving, and her family is gearing up to participate in this year’s RBC Race for the Kids to drum up funds for GOSH Charity, with the family ‘very keen to give back to the hospital’.
The proceeds from this year’s RBC Race for the Kids will contribute to the construction of the new state-of-the-art Children’s Cancer Centre at GOSH. This facility aims to transform care for young patients like Charlotte through digitally advanced inpatient wards, cutting-edge imaging technology, and top-tier treatment amenities.
