Watch: The beautiful moment a four-year-old girl rings end of cancer treatment bell after fighting the disease for two years
Four-year-old Holly Hughes has proved that she is very tough and brave. The four-year-old had been battling with cancer and had been under extensive treatment for the past two years. She was able to overcome the illness and proudly rang the special bell to mark the end of the treatment.
Holly had been diagnosed with leukemia, which is a cancer of blood-forming tissues and bone marrow, just before her second birthday in the year 2016. She can now safely celebrate her victory over the disease after finishing the treatment at the Coventry's University Hospital. Holly's parents and her baby brother Harry were all present to watch her as she rang the hospital's end of treatment bell.
The moment the brave little girl rang the bell, the nurses and hospital staff lined up in the corridor to cheer her on. Holly's mother was able to capture the precious moment on camera. Her parents revealed to CoventryLive that their world fell apart and they were devastated when they were first informed about their baby girl's health. Holly's father Chris, from Rugby, shared, "We found about just before her second birthday. I was away in America and Christina, my fiancé, phoned me to say Holly was misbehaving."
"We didn't think anything of it but when I came back, we noticed she looked pale. We finally got diagnosed, and she had six to eight weeks to live if she didn't have medication. I remember my whole world crashing and I wanted the world to swallow us up. I couldn't describe it. It took so long to sink in, and it left me angry and upset. We got it together and asked how to deal with it and said what is the treatment - let's go," Chris continued.
In four years of her short life, Holly has only gone through more than what most adults have to go through and deal with. She may not have had to spend every day in the hospital but she did have to receive daily treatment. "She had chemo every day for two years, and was also put to sleep to have injections in her spine," Chris continued. "At the start, because she was so young, she was so upset. She grew up so quickly and she was fantastic. She is bright as a button, and was always smiling," he shared.
Chris also praised the staff at the NHS for being a great help to Holly and his family. "The NHS was amazing, and the doctors and nurses who got to know her were just incredible". Holly's mother Christina Cairns told ConventryLive that it was surreal and a "strange feeling" the day that Holly was finally able to ring the bell. "It is a bit surreal. If I had of known back then she would be okay, it would have been better, but you just have to hope. It was really scary," Christina shared.
"It will be strange now not giving her any medication every day. It will take a while for it to sink in. We didn't expect so many people to be at the ringing of the bell. We tried to prepare her for what was going to happen, but so many people turned up. Our friends have now booked a holiday for us, which will be a nice celebration," Christina continued.
The end of treatment bells has been placed in hospitals by the Maria Watt Birmingham Foundation for Childhood & Teenage Leukaemia so that children, as well as adults, can celebrate their achievement of being able to overcome and complete their treatment. The foundation has been able to place an estimated 148 bells in hospitals in the UK.