Milli Lucas back at school months after brain surgery by Charlie Teo

A young Perth girl has made a miraculous recovery just months after Dr Charlie Teo performed brain surgery that others deemed too risky.

A young girl is back at school after being given a second chance at life when neurosurgeon Dr Charlie Teo performed radical surgery to remove an aggressive brain tumour.

For the past three years 12-year-old Amelia “Milli” Lucas has battled brain cancer.

In May, doctors told the young Perth girl that chemotherapy and radiotherapy had stopped working on her tumour and it was inoperable.

Milli was moved into Palliative Care and the family was advised that there was nothing more that could be done.

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In a desperate attempt to save Milli’s life, her family reached out to Dr Teo who agreed to perform the lifesaving surgery that other’s had deemed too risky.

“Dr Charlie Teo operated on Milli wearing a Wish for Milli scarf and successfully removed 98 per cent of her malignant tumour, which went into her brain stem,” the Charlie Teo Foundation wrote in an update on Facebook yesterday.

Milli Lucas with Dr Charlie Teo. Picture: Team Millstar/Facebook

After the surgery, Milli was flown to Bochum in western Germany to receive treatment to remove the remaining 2 per cent of the tumour.

She underwent four weeks of specialist treatments which included hyperthermia and orthomolecular therapy.

Milli has since returned home to Perth and is now back at school and has even restarted singing lessons which is one of her passions.

“Milli has recently returned, is doing well and now back at school with her sister Tess. This is a story about hope and incredible bravery,” the Facebook post read.

“Charlie Teo Foundation’s sole focus is funding brain cancer research to give patients like Milli hope of a world without brain cancer.”

The post received thousands of comments from social media users congratulating Milli on her recovery and praising Dr Teo for his work.

Just a few months ago Milli was told by doctors there was nothing more that could be done about her tumour. Picture: Team Millstar/Facebook

Milli’s father, Grant Lucas, also commented on the post to thank Dr Teo for all he had done.

“Thank you Charlie Teo, if we had of listened to drs in W.A at PCH (Perth Children’s Hospital) this day may not of been possible to have my three beautiful kids on FATHERS DAY 2019,” Mr Lucas said.

The family are now waiting on a brain scan to identify whether the tumour has shrunk any further.

Milli and her family made headlines earlier in the year when a GoFundMe page was set up to help fund the cost of Dr Teo’s surgery.

They received an outpouring of support and have so far raised more than $170,000.

Dr Teo is one of Australia’s top neurosurgeons and is known for taking on high-risk cases that other surgeons will refuse to do.

Milli has now returned to school. Picture: Team Millstar/Facebook

This approach has drawn criticism from other medical professionals throughout his career.

However, Dr Teo said Milli and her family understood the risks.

“They know the risks,” he previously told The West Australian.

“They know it’s not curable and could reduce her quality of life, but they just aren’t ready to give up. It’s a very brave decision.”

Following the surgery, Dr Teo described it has one of the more difficult procedures he has encountered throughout his career.

“It went into the brain stem, the no-go zone where most people don’t operate”, he said.

Despite the success of Milli’s surgery, the family was dealt another blow when Milli’s mum, Monica Smirk, learned that her breast cancer had returned.

Ms Smirk, Milli and other members of their family suffer from Li-Fraumeni syndrome, an extremely rare genetic disposition that puts the sufferer at a lifelong risk of a wide range of cancers.

The devastating disease is believe to affect less than 1000 people around the world.