Delilah's Story

In July 2024 when she was just 2 years old. We noticed a lump on her head and after multiple visits to different hospitals searching for answers, doctors eventually carried out scans which initially appeared to show a fractured skull.

We were completely confused as Delilah hadn’t hurt herself or hit her head with force, so none of it made sense.

Further scans of her whole body then revealed the devastating reality. Delilah had multiple lesions and tumours in her skull, lesions throughout her pelvis, femurs and arms, as well as multiple collapsed vertebrae in her spine. She was diagnosed with Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), a rare form of blood cancer that had been aggressively attacking her bones.

Everything changed overnight.

Delilah was due to fly to Greece the following week to be a flower girl at my best friend’s wedding, but instead she had to undergo surgery to have a portacath fitted and begin treatment immediately.

Over the following year, Delilah endured chemotherapy, steroids, countless hospital stays, procedures, scans and medications. The treatment caused her to lose her hair, gain significant steroid weight and become very poorly at times. Yet through everything, she somehow kept the most incredible spirit. While we as parents were terrified and heartbroken watching her go through so much, Delilah continued to smile, laugh and show a resilience to the challenges she faced.

After a full year of treatment, we finally received the news we had desperately hoped for , Delilah had no active lesions and was in remission. It felt like we could finally begin to breathe again and slowly move forward from what had been the hardest year of our lives.

Sadly, only months later we began noticing worrying signs again. In February 2026, Delilah was rushed into hospital for emergency scans which confirmed our worst fear , her LCH had relapsed. New lesions had returned throughout her skeleton and the disease had also affected her pituitary gland at the base of her brain, causing permanent damage and leaving her with diabetes Insipidus alongside her cancer diagnosis.

Delilah is now undergoing another treatment plan, this time expected to last two years with a much more intensive first six months. Despite everything she faces, she continues to amaze every single person around her with her strength, courage and positivity- our sassy princess.

We are incredibly fortunate to have such an outstanding medical team supporting her journey, including her paediatric oncology consultant who gratefully is a specialist in LCH , specialist nurses, endocrinology team. Every single one of them goes above and beyond to make hospital life as manageable and as fun as possible for our now 4-year-old little girl who has already endured more than most people ever will.

We currently have Delilah’s first three-month scan results approaching since restarting treatment, and we are hoping and praying with everything we have that the treatment is working.

Which is why this holiday has come at a time when we truly need it most. A huge distraction & breath of fresh air whilst waiting on scan results and next steps. Having the opportunity to step away for even a short time means more than words can explain. Most importantly, it gives Delilah the chance to simply be a child again, to run around carefree, laugh, play and make happy memories away from hospital visits, something she so deeply deserves.

We never imagined our little girl would have to go through this journey once, let alone twice. If we could take every bit of this pain away from her, we would in a heartbeat. But while we cannot change what she is facing, we are endlessly grateful for the incredible professionals caring for her and for amazing charities like the Ben Saunders Foundation who help families like ours find moments of happiness, hope and normality in between some of the darkest and most difficult times imaginable.

Thank you xx