‘We never imagined this could happen to our little girl… we hit rock bottom’

“She was tired and pale, so we took her to the GP thinking it was just a virus. Then they found the tumours,” the heartbroken parents of three-year-old Ava reveal. 

At first Scott and Natalie Bolton thought their daughter Ava just had a virus.

She was “lethargic, pale and vomiting”, the Scottish parents recalled.

“Our very active little girl suddenly refused to walk, complaining of pain in her leg,” the family explained in a post on a GoFundMe campaign. “Bruising started to appear around her eyes, despite no injury.”

The symptoms were bad enough that they took her to the paediatrician who told them to go straight to the hospital.

At first, doctors agreed it was a virus – three-year-old’s white blood cell count was low -  but when they looked at a bone marrow sample, they realised they were dealing with something more serious.

A CT scan confirmed the worst. Ava had Stage 4 high risk neuroblastoma, a cancer that typically affects children under five years old.

“To find out our little girl had cancer was just devastating. Our whole world collapsed,” Scott told local news outlet Ayrshire Live. “It was rock bottom.”

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Unexplained dark circles under her eyes, fatigue and pain in her leg sent the family to the hospital. Photo: GoFundMe

Doctors find stage 4 neuroblastoma in 3-year-old

Tumours were all over Ava’s little body. The primary tumour was in her back, and secondary tumours were in her shin, hip, pelvis and shoulder.

“We were told she has stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma, a very aggressive and rare childhood cancer with a poor survival rate. Our whole world collapsed,” the fundraising page reads.

Chemotherapy is the only option to save Ava’s life, and the treatments with debilitating side effects from hair loss to fatigue and vomiting have been gruelling for the little girl.

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Ava has done six treatments and has 18 months to go. Photo: GoFundMe

So far, Ava has had six treatments, and she’s got 18 more months of a higher dose, plus a stem cell transplant left before she can rest.

“She has amazed us all with her resilience, keeping her cheeky smile and making us so proud of how she is coping throughout it all.

“Ava has already been through so much, but she is just at the beginning of her treatment, with surgery, further intensive chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, radiotherapy and immunotherapy still to come.”

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Her parents are raising funds so that they can go to America for a new treatment. Photo: GoFundMe

Chances of relapse are high

Even with all the treatments, it’s possible the cancer will return, and if it does, “Ava’s chance of survival would drop drastically”.

Scott and Natalie, who are also parents to five-year-old Lucas, are terrified and hanging their hopes on a new vaccination treatment being trialled in America.

“This treatment stops the neuroblastoma from returning. Unfortunately, it is not currently available in the UK, so we are fundraising to be able to take Ava to get this, or other progressive treatments which might be available once her cancer treatment is finished.”

The Go Fund Me campaign has raised AU$261,000 of their $467,000 goal.

Ava has a five-year-old brother named Lucas. Photo: GoFundMe

Originally published as ‘We never imagined this could happen to our little girl… we hit rock bottom’