By Lauren Beavis
A schoolgirl who captured the nation’s 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, is celebrating Christmas early after she was given the all-clear a decade after she was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour when she was a baby.
Lyra, a young singing sensation from Highbridge, Somerset, was just five-months-old when she was rushed for emergency surgery to remove a low-grade choroid plexus papilloma.
But the Year 6 Burrowbridge C of E Primary School pupil had her final scan earlier this month (December) – which showed no evidence of the disease.
Despite dealing with such adversity, the young singing sensation has achieved great success – including storming the charts in 2019 with her version of ‘When A Child is Born’, performed originally by Johnny Mathis and later by Cliff Richards – when she was just six years old.
The single shot to the top of the download charts beating Stormzy and come close to securing an official Christmas number one as well as raising thousands for the charity Brain Tumour Research.
The success shot Lyra and her family into the spotlight and a second bid for a Christmas number one with a cover of Shakin’ Stevens’ Merry Christmas Everyone also charted in 2020.
Her mum Ellie, 32, said: “It felt like only yesterday we were told that Lyra had a small orange sized tumour on her brain and our nightmare begun.
“The day of her scan was full of mixed emotion and decade worth of experiences and feelings, culminating in a huge sense of pride of how Lyra handled everything.
“It’s the best Christmas present we could have wished for.”
Despite a second operation to save her eyesight after a cyst developed on her optic nerve in June 2014, Lyra has continued to live with almost no side effects.
Lyra has continued to reach other impressive milestones such as starting school and becoming a big sister to Charlie who is seven.
In January 2020, Lyra was also presented with a prestigious Points of Light Award, recognising outstanding individual volunteers making a difference in the community.
Lyra’s proud dad Dan, 42, said: “Although Lyra remains on yearly check-ups to ensure her physical development is on track, to look at her you would never know the hardship she endured as a baby.”
“Lyra’s tumour grew in the part of the brain responsible for growth, however we don’t know what that means for her in the future.
“In spite of this, she suffers no symptoms and we’re relieved she is able to lead a normal and happy life.
He is urging people to “do more” to protect people suffering from this illness.
Dan added: “It’s horrendous to think that brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer yet have historically received just 1% of the national spend on cancer research.
“We must do more to save future generations who are diagnosed with this horrendous disease.”
Dr Karen Noble, Director of Policy, Research and Innovation at Brain Tumour Research, said: “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.
It also campaigns for the Government and larger cancer charities to invest more in research into brain tumours in order to speed up new treatments for patients and, ultimately, to find a cure.
To find out how you can support Brain Tumour Research, please visit: https://braintumourresearch.org/
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