A YOUNG girl who was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour has died after a short battle.
Lucy Smith, from Clarehall in Dublin, sadly passed away in her parents’ arms on Friday.
The five-year-old’s funeral mass was held at St. Benedict’s Church, Grange Park this morning.
Her death notice on RIP.ie reads: “Lucy Smith, (Clarehall, Dublin) passed away on the 18th October 2019 (peacefully) after a short illness in the arms of her loving parents.
“Lucy, cherished daughter to Sarah-Jane and Dwayne; she will be very sadly missed by her loving family, brothers Conor, Carter, Jacob, Theo, sister Abbie, grandmothers, grandfather, aunts, uncles, relatives and friends.”
Last month, Lucy’s mum Sarah Smith told how she initially thought her daughter had sunstroke or a food allergy before receiving the devastating news.
Sarah said alarm bells rang when she noticed that her bubbly daughter Lucy was a lot more tired than usual.
FIRST SYMPTOMS
Speaking about Lucy’s first symptoms, Sarah previously told us: “We live in an avenue where there are loads of kids, everybody’s out playing.
“I just noticed Lucy wasn’t really involved and she was more tired than usual.”
She explained: “I made the appointment to try our local GP who told me that it could be the heat, and that she probably wasn’t able for it.
“She told me watch what she was eating because she did vomit a few times.
“I was thinking it was maybe reflux or some sort of food allergy.”
Doctors later revealed she had a rare and aggressive brain tumour called DIPG, or diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
The family were told Lucy had just six to nine months to live by doctors and that any treatments offered would only be palliative options.
What is DIPG?
Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a brain tumour found in a part of the brain stem called the pons.
The pons controls essential bodily functions such as heartbeat, breathing, swallowing, eye movement, eyesight, and balance.
DIPG almost always only affects children, usually aged between 4 and 11.
As a DIPG tumor begins to grow, it puts pressure on the nerves that control the essential bodily functions regulated by the pons.
Children with DIPG commonly experience double vision, reduced eye movement, facial weakness or asymmetry, and arm and leg weakness.
They also have problems with walking, coordination, speech, chewing, and swallowing.
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Paying tribute to Lucy at the time, she added: “Lucy is literally just the perfect daughter, she is the perfect child, she is so caring for her age, anybody that knows Lucy will know her charm.
“She cares about other people’s feelings and she’s only five.”
A GoFundMe page raised over €35,000 for Lucy.