Girl, 7, rings bell to mark end of cancer treatment

A seven-year-old girl who is the first child with Down's syndrome to take part in a "revolutionary" clinical trial has rung the bell after completing her treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at Alder Hey hospital in Liverpool.

Allya, from Crewe, in Cheshire, was diagnosed with the rare type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow shortly before her fourth birthday.

She has been undergoing the treatment as part of a clinical trial at the Merseyside children's hospital, which has been looking at a more targeted approach for children who are vulnerable to infections.

Allya's father, Haji, said: "When I came in here, for the first two, three days, sometimes when I was alone I was crying. But after time, Alder Hey is like family."

Haji added: "It is a very difficult time for parents here but the nurses, doctors, staff are very good with the parents and the patients.

"If I get a good job then I will pay something back to the hospital because it's an amazing hospital."

Allya's sister, Awin, aged eight, said it was "very exciting" to see her younger sibling ring the bell to mark the start of a new chapter.

According to Cancer Research UK, children with Down's syndrome have been found to be at a significantly higher risk of developing leukaemia.

Allya was treated with the immunotherapy drug blinatumomab as part of her clinical trial.

"I think it's been really revolutionary that we are able in the UK now to give that to a lot more children and young people," said consultant paediatric haematologist Dr Kat Lindsay.

"It means that rather than needing to give them much more conventional chemotherapy, which is a bit of a sledgehammer approach to treating leukaemia, it is much more targeted. It's kinder.

"Children and young people talk to me about feeling much more like themselves when they're on it, compared with when they're on chemotherapy.

"It's advances like that which are making all the difference on a day-to-day basis."

Lindsay said the hospital wanted be in a position where it could "offer the right treatment to every child" and "give every child a cancer cure".

"To come to the bell ringing at the end of the treatment, it's one of the best parts of my job to be able to see that whole journey from beginning to end," she said.

"To see how relieved they are to finish their treatment and to see the whole family come together and see her with her sisters - that's really precious."

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