A Highbridge schoolgirl who captured hearts with her bid for a Christmas number one has received the “best present ever” – after being given the all clear from rare cancer.
Lyra Cole, 10, and her family are celebrating after she was given the all-clear a decade after she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour when she was a baby.
Lyra was just five months old when she was rushed for emergency surgery to remove a low-grade choroid plexus papilloma.
However, the youngster had her final scan earlier this month which showed no sign of the disease.
Lyra achieved great success with her singing, storming the charts in 2019 with her version of ‘When A Child is Born’, when she was just six years old.
The single soared to the top of the download charts and was close to securing an official Christmas number one. It was supported by Sir Cliff Richard.
It raised thousands for the charity Brain Tumour Research. Her second bid for a Christmas number one, a cover of Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone, also appeared in the charts in 2020.
Her family say this month’s diagnosis is the “best Christmas present they could wish for.”
In January 2020, Lyra was presented with a prestigious Points of Light Award, recognising outstanding individual volunteers making a difference in the community.
Dr Karen Noble, Director of Policy, Research and Innovation at Brain Tumour Research, says: “We’re incredibly grateful to Lyra and her family for sharing their story with us and for their continued dedication to raise funds and awareness into research for brain tumours.”
“The choroid plexus papilloma tumour that Lyra was diagnosed with is incredibly rare, contributing to only 2-5% of all paediatric brain tumour diagnoses.”
“We wish Lyra all the best going forward and we hope that the research our Centres of Excellence are undertaking will ensure that more children will celebrate 10-years free of their tumour.”
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK. To find more about Brain Tumour Research, see: https://braintumourresearch.org/
