WINGERWORTH MUM RELEASES BOOK ABOUT DAUGHTER'S TUMOUR BATTLE

Tracey Evison with daughter Lucy

A Wingerworth mother whose baby daughter battled a rare brain tumour has had the diary of her experiences turned into a book to raise money for charity.

The book titled ‘Dear Lucy’ documents the journey of Tracey Evison’s daughter Lucy Needham.


Lucy was diagnosed with an Atypical Rhandoid tumour of the brain when she was just ten-months-old.

“I started the diary during Lucy’s stays in hospital,” said Tracey, “I did it with the intentions of Lucy being able to read it back when she’s older so she can find out about the challenges she faced and how strong she was throughout it all.”

Lucy underwent a day-long operation to try and remove her tumour, and although doctors cleared most of it they could not get it all due to the sheer amount of  infected cells.

This led to Lucy having high-dose chemotherapy to abolish the rest of the tumour in 2014.

Tracey said: “What Lucy went through was brutal, it was a horrible time for us all. She used to vomit constantly, her breathing was always shallow and she was underweight to a point where I thought she was going to fade away.

"But there was nothing we could do except pray she’d get better.”

The start of last year saw Lucy given the all-clear from cancer and she was finally allowed to return home much to the relief of her parents Tracey and Paul and step-brother and sister Jack and Molly.

But Lucy continued to suffer, she  vomited every day until she was eventually diagnosed with severe gastro reflux disease, as well as a hiatus hernia caused by the excessive vomiting.

She had to undergo another surgery to remove the hernia last August.

“Thankfully after that we managed to get Lucy home and she started to gain weight. She turned two in September and we feel great. We finally feel like we have our little girl back,” said Tracey.

Lucy is now starting to get her energy back and is attempting to walk. Something neither Tracey or Paul thought was going to happen.

“During some of our darker days I thought we’d never get out of hospital never mind see her start to pull herself up and get those little legs going.”

However, Lucy continues to live with some of the side effects of her treatment. She suffers from hearing loss and does not have the ability to swallow which means she has to be fed through a tube.

“She’s making progress that’s all that matters,” said Tracey who is now working for the charity Brain Tumour Research and Support, “She is doing really well and just smiles through it all. I know she’s going to be fine, she’s a fighter.”

To get a copy of Lucy’s journey, you can buy ‘Dear Lucy’ from Amazon for £10.50. All proceeds go to PACT (Sheffield’s Parents’ Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia). 

Dear Lucy book cover

The funds will help build a new day care centre at Sheffield Children’s Hospital, where Lucy was treated.

Lucy’s dad is also hoping to raise money for several cancer charities by holding a fundraising night at Chesterfield FC’s Proact Stadium on 19th March.

Tickets cost £40 and the event will be hosted by Bernie Clifton. A three-course-meal, raffle and disco are included with proceeds being split between PACT Sheffield, Brain Tumour Research and Support (BTRS), Ellie’s Fund, Levi’s Star and Amy’s retreat - all of which have helped the family during Lucy’s illness.

To buy tickets call BTRS on 07932 41413