'I stopped my little girl's chemo so she can enjoy her last Christmas' says proud mum
A MOTHER has taken the heartbreaking decision to stop her three-year-old girl’s cancer treatment so she can enjoy her last Christmas without pain.
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Terminally ill Isabella Coomber was due to start her final chemotherapy [JEREMY DURKIN]
Terminally ill Isabella Coomber has had a rare brain tumour since she was one. She was due to start a final cycle of chemotherapy last month, which may have extended her life but would not have saved her.
She had endured 10 months of the 12-month course but it was making the little girl desperately weak and sick. After speaking to doctors, her mother Jolene Hale, 32, decided to stop the chemotherapy early, allowing her to have fun at her last Christmas.
Consultants have told her that Isabella, who is called “the Little Lion” by nurses because of her courage, is unlikely to live beyond next June.
Jolene, from Charlton, south-east London, said: “There will be no tears while Isabella is here. We are lucky to have another Christmas with our darling girl and I want to create happy memories we can cherish for ever.
“Cancer has ruined every Christmas she has been old enough to know about but not this one. This year she’ll have fun like other children. The treatment will not cure Isabella so what is the point of continuing if it makes her quality of life so poor? The time we have is too precious to waste being sick. My little girl deserves laughter and happiness at Christmas.”
Jolene is now raising funds to fulfil her daughter’s final Christmas wish to visit Disneyland. Isabella has asked Santa if, instead of a present, she could go to see her favourite characters again, after fund-raisers sent the family to Disneyland Paris last year.
Money had been set aside to send her to America for treatment but experts advised the family that it would not do any good. Instead, the money was invested in a caravan, called “The Little Lion’s Den”, which parents of young cancer sufferers can use free of charge for family holidays.
Jolene Hale decided to end Isabella's chemo so she could have fun at Christmas (not pictured) [GETTY]There will be no tears while Isabella is here. We are lucky to have another Christmas with our darling girl and I want to create happy memories we can cherish for everJolene Hale, 32
Jolene, who has two other daughters, Rebecca, seven, and Sophia, one, said this was “Isabella’s present to all the other children”.
She now wants to raise money to send her to Disneyland one final time.
Isabella was born healthy on September 30, 2010, but at five months, Jolene feared something was wrong. “I noticed she didn’t push her legs down like Rebecca had done as a baby but my GP told me not to worry and assured me all babies developed differently,” she said.
But her fears continued when at 10 months old Isabella was unable to sit unsupported. Jolene took her back to the doctor and a brain scan on December 16, 2011, revealed a large tumour.
Jolene, who was pregnant again, said: “No mother expects to hear those words, I was shaking and sobbing.” Surgeons advised an operation within days. But when Jolene was told Isabella may not survive it she brought Christmas forward for her two girls.
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Days later, Isabella had the operation but surgeons were able to remove only 80 per cent of the tumour. Tests revealed she had a rare cancer affecting only one in 900,000 people.
She started a gruelling cycle of chemotherapy and three months later in March 2012 when Jolene gave birth to Sophia, she had separated from the girls’ father Chris. “Isabella loved being a big sister. I hoped the baby would give her something to fight for.”
Last Christmas she battled through more chemotherapy but, in September, doctors confirmed she had only months to live. ≠“I’ll never forget those words,” said Jolene.
“They told me my little girl would never grow up and my heart shattered for ever. I now had to ensure she had the best possible time while she was alive. Christmas was coming and she was so excited. I didn’t want it ruined by treatment that could not save her.”
Her consultant agreed her quality of life would be so poor the treatment should be stopped for her to have some fun.
To help Isabella’s Christmas dream come true visit gofundme.com/xcjw8
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