A GIRL who had beaten cancer has relapsed and desperately needs a bone marrow transplant - but her younger sister could be a donor.

Lily May Filmer, aged eight, rang the end of treatment bell in August last year, after fighting acute lymphoblastic leukaemia since her diagnosis at the age of five.

But, four months after getting the all clear, Lily started showing unusual symptoms - including headaches, neck pain, vomiting, and she had double vision.

Her mum, Kayleigh Chapman, said: “The way she was and how she looked was horrendous. She has been in so much pain - she had two years of chemo, but I have never seen her like that.

“She has relapsed so quickly after finishing treatment. She needs a bone marrow transplant. Her little sister (Keira) is a match, so all being well she will be donating her bone marrow, however it’s a big ask trying to get a seven-year-old to agree to such a big operation.

“It’s Kiera’s mental health which will be my concern. If Keira is unfit or unable to be Lily’s donor then it will be a case of someone off the donor register to be her donor.”

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Mrs Chapman said she was concerned Lily had relapsed, so she took her daughter to Worcestershire Royal Hospital on December 15, where Lily was diagnosed with sinusitis and was prescribed antibiotics.

Mrs Chapman said Lily’s double vision was getting worse, and her headaches were still “persistent and crippling” so she took her back to the hospital.

She added: “Headaches are a sign of CNS relapse which should have been investigated and taken more seriously.”

Lily had her MRI scan on December 22, where she was told there were no tumours, no leukaemia deposits and no hypertension shown on the scan and was told she could go back to her home in Drakes Broughton.

Mrs Chapman booked an urgent appointment for Lily at Specsavers where she had photos of the back of her eyes taken.

The mum-of-four was shown the difference in pictures from her daughter’s previous appointment in October, and was told to immediately take Lily back to hospital as she had papilloedema, which is a swelling of both optic nerves.

Mrs Chapman, aged 31, said: “They showed me the pictures and it was absolutely appalling. It looked so cloudy. I couldn’t understand how an MRI couldn’t pick that up.

“Watching my daughter screaming in pain for 10 days was taking its toll on both of us.”

Lily was transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital the following day where a bone marrow aspirate and lumbar puncture confirmed that Lily had relapsed with leukaemia in her central nervous system and bone marrow. She has been having chemotherapy every day since Christmas Eve.

Mrs Chapman added: “I feel numb.

"It’s weird. You think everything will be OK and that it’s the end of treatment and life will go back to normal.

“We never thought we would be in this position in the first place and now we are doing it all over again.”

Dr Angus Thomson, divisional medical director for women and children’s services at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are fully aware of Lily May’s previous and ongoing treatment but are not able to comment on specific details of individual patients due to patient confidentiality. Whenever concerns are raised we investigate these both internally and with external organisations where necessary. In this case the investigation is ongoing and will be shared with the family in due course. We have asked the specialist centre to review the actions of the team at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, which has shown that appropriate management decisions were made. Lily May’s family have previously been offered a meeting to discuss all aspects of her care, which they have so far not been able to accept. We remain entirely happy to discuss the whole situation with them in an open and detailed way.”

To follow Lily’s blog to see how she is getting on, visit ‘Lilys freedom fight’ on Facebook.

To spot the symptoms of childhood cancer, visit The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust for more information on www.gkcct.org/.