Funeral held for Creswick girl Zarliah Laidlaw eight months after brain tumour diagnosis

Friends and family have held a funeral service for Creswick’s Zarliah Laidlaw, who died about eight months after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour.

Zarliah Laidlaw died on November 28, 2023. Photo: GoFundMe

A funeral has been held for a young Creswick girl who died about eight months after being diagnosed with a rare and aggressive brain tumour.

Zarliah Laidlaw, daughter of Jake and Tioni and sister to Mason, was diagnosed with an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumour, or AT/RT, in April 2023 when she was just five months old.

More than $40,000 was raised by an online fundraiser to cover the family’s costs and potentially help pay for a type of radiation therapy only available in the US.

The Laidlaws returned home to Creswick for the first time in three months this August, and then had to stay within 15 minutes of Zarliah’s hospital in Melbourne while she received further rounds of chemotherapy.

Jake and Tioni with Mason and Zarliah, from Creswick. Five-month-old Zarliah was diagnosed with a rare aggressive brain tumour in April 2023. Photo: GoFundMe

But on December 1, Tioni announced that Zarliah had died.

“She fought until the very very end, but on Tuesday the fight became too much for her little body,” she wrote.

“We know that she is now whole, healed and full of true peace with a smile on her face, held in the hands that have held her every step of her precious little life.

“ … We are taking this time to grieve and celebrate the memories that we will forever cherish. “We would like to acknowledge the funds that have been so generously given, and we will find a time at a later date to update everyone on how the funds will be used – considering we will no longer be going to Florida for further treatment.”

The funeral was held for Zarliah at Doveton Park Funeral Centre on December 7.