A 16-year-old girl has died after what was thought to be ‘excessive tiredness’ turned out to be a catastrophic brain tumour.
Emily Kinsella passed away at home surrounded by her family on 25 June.
Before her diagnosis, there hadn’t been many signs of the teen being unwell, other than her mum, Karen Kinsella, and her husband, Rob, noticing she would often fall asleep when she was supposed to be doing homework.
But after noticing her face had dropped on one side, Emily’s parents took her to A&E in 2021.
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Just 14 at the time, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour and underwent surgery at Manchester Children’s Hospital to remove a section of the tumour.
The family were told the tumour was ‘treatable’ but not ‘curable’.
Emily underwent six weeks of radiotherapy at the Christie Hospital with Karen telling the Manchester Evening News (MEN) the ‘warrior’ teen was the only person in Manchester to complete the chemotherapy course.
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Her tumour was stabilised for a while but last Christmas turned into a nightmare when doctors revealed the original tumour had returned with a second appearing at the brains stem.
This was an inoperable development.
Despite the incredibly difficult times, Karen said in a eulogy she shared with MEN that Emily was the one who kept her family and nurses entertained – even in her last days.
“From day one she was the warrior. She helped us through so many challenges,” the mum said.
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Karen is determined to keep Emily’s memory alive, focusing on the happy and funny times instead of the pain that accompanied her cancer.
"Yes, cancer has taken Emily from us but that's it now, she's pain and worry free, she's no longer paralysed.
"It's taken her from us but it can never take our memories of her, they are ours forever."
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Emily was also determined to help others, despite being confined to her bed towards the end of her life.
The budding artist (who was even shortlisted as BBC young artist of the year) hoped to become an ambassador for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Emily’s family are now hoping to continue that mission and want to help other families going through the same pain they had to experience.
"We’ve loved her, we’ve had her at her best, nursed her through her worst, all with HER help," Karen said. "I will be honest going on without her is the hardest thing we'll ever have to do in our entire life.
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"We miss her so much it physically hurts. We can give her all the titles we want but that warrior princess is still our baby girl and she’s gone. We pray she’s at peace, we pray she is happy and pray we see her again soon."
Jess Battison