Girl, four, with an inoperable brain tumour dies in her parents’ arms

Girl, four, with an inoperable brain tumour dies in her parents’ arms after losing her battle despite undergoing £700,000 experimental treatment in Mexico

• Edie Molyneux, from Tranmere, died at 1.30pm yesterday of brain cancer
• She had travelled to Mexico for immunotherapy but could not be saved
• Doctors gave the four-year-old just weeks to live in December last year

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A four-year-old girl who travelled to Mexico to undergo experimental cancer treatment for her brain tumour has died.

Edie Molyneux, from Tranmere, was able to try the last-ditch immunotherapy treatment after her parents managed to raise £700,000.

Her parents today posted on Facebook announcing the Spiderman-obsessed girl died yesterday in her parents’ arms, surrounded by her family.

They posted photos, believed to be taken after the girl’s death, and said ‘our baby gained her angel wings at 1.30pm yesterday afternoon’.

Edie made headlines earlier this year when a mysterious donor gave £250,000 to her treatment fund, and she was given an honorary 41st place at the Grand National in April.

Edie, who was a huge fan of the comic book character Spiderman, died yesterday when her brain tumour could not be cured despite innovative new treatment in Mexico

Last year, Edie’s family were devastated when she was diagnosed with an inoperable diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) tumour.

She was given just weeks to live in December, but they started raising £700,000 for a new intra-arterial chemotherapy and immunotherapy trial only available in Monterray, Mexico.

Each cycle of the treatment costs around £300,000, but her parents raised more to cover possible further therapy.

In January, her mother Ashleigh Stading, 29, and father Stephen Molyneux, 35, of Tranmere, jetted her off for the trial and later claimed her tumour had started to shrink.

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But this morning, in heartbreaking images posted by her family on Facebook, they revealed Edie died on October 22 .

In the emotive social media post headed ‘Upsetting images of reality’, the family wrote: ‘It is with indescribable pain that we have to tell you all our baby gained her angel wings at 1.30pm yesterday afternoon.

‘I literally have no words to say anything more right now. Please keep us in your hearts. 

Edie’s parents were told in December she could have just weeks to live, but they managed to raise £700,000 to take her to Mexico for an experimental immunotherapy treatment, which uses the body’s immune system to fight off the cancer

Edie had an inoperable brain tumour called a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, which could not be treated with chemotherapy on the NHS because it would have poisoned her entire body, doctors said

‘We are heartbroken and lost but so proud of how hard Edie fought and how many peoples lives she touched. An inspiration to us all.

‘Edie, you are forever our baby.’ 

In reply, Gemma Lowery – the mother of tragic five year-old cancer victim Bradley Lowery and chief executive of The Bradley Lowery Foundation – tweeted that her boy will take care of Edie in heaven.

Ms Lowery wrote: ‘Devastating that Edie has gained her angel wings, fly high princess Bradley will take good care of you now.’

Edie’s family posted online again today saying they would have a memorial service in Mexico before planning a celebration of their daughter’s life back in the UK.

The post added: ‘If you would like to carry out a candlelight memorial in Edie May’s honour we ask for it to be around the time we will be having her service, please light a candle at 7pm UK time.’ 

Edie’s family announced her death in a post on Facebook earlier today, accompanied by pictures of her parents hugging her, believed to have been taken after the four-year-old died

The parents thanked people for their messages of support on the Facebook page, which is followed by more than 9,000 people, and invited people to light a candle in memory of Edie tonight

Last November, Edie was diagnosed with the inoperable brain tumour after she began to suffer from excruciating headaches.

However, doctors diagnosed her with migraines at first because she was unable to describe her pain.

A quick-thinking paediatrician gave her an MRI scan ‘just in case’, which showed the one-inch tumour growing quickly in the centre of her brain.

It could not be removed through surgery, and the family were told chemotherapy was not an option on the NHS as it would poison the rest of Edie’s body.

They researched her condition online and found the treatment offered at Monterrey’s The Instituto de Oncologia Intervencionista clinic in Monterrey.

Last year, the parents explained: ‘Radiotherapy would alleviate symptoms, make her more comfortable and ease any pain but we would inevitably still lose her.

‘In Monterrey they use a multi-pronged attack, namely intra-arterial chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

‘Nowhere else in the world is using this treatment and nowhere else in the world is having the results that they are.’

The £700,000 treatment, a combination of intra-arterial immunotherapy and chemotherapy, targeted her tumour through her arteries.

Between 20 and 30 children a year get the same type of cancer which Edie had, and it is often aggressive and spreads to other parts of the brain and the spinal cord

This is different to conventional chemotherapy because it delivers cancer-killing drugs directly to the tumour through an artery in the neck.

Traditional chemotherapy, which is delivered to the whole body, can leave patients ill because they are exposed to high doses of medications.

DIPG is a rare type of brain tumour that can’t be operated on because of it’s location within a crucial part of the brain, called the pons.

This area is responsible for a number of critical bodily functions, such as breathing, sleeping and blood pressure.

The high-grade brain tumour, which mostly affects children, tends to grow quickly and often spreads to other parts of the brain or spinal cord.

Most diagnoses occur in youngsters between the ages of five and 10. The cause of the tumour remains unknown.

More than 90 per cent of its victims will die within 18 months of diagnosis. In the UK, it strikes between 20 and 30 children each year.

Symptoms include lack of facial control, double vision, headaches, vomiting, weakness, seizures and balance problems.

Earlier this year explaining Edie’s illness, nursery nurse Ms Stading said: ‘Last November our world was crushed – Edie was diagnosed with DIPG.

Edie was awarded an honorary 41st place at the Grand National horse race in April this year, something which was originally done for Bradley Lowery, who died at the age of six because of a brain tumour

The mother of Bradley Lowery, who died in July, said in a heart-wrenching comment on Facebook: ‘Devastating that Edie has gained her angel wings, fly high princess Bradley will take good care of you now’

‘We were told by our doctors to go home and make memories with the family but then we found hope.

‘The most recent MRI scan shows a small amount of shrinkage, a massive step as we were previously told the tumour was stable.

‘Please support us in any way you can, even if it’s just telling people all about the disease.’

Edie’s father, Mr Molyneux, added at the time: ‘Each treatment costs approximately £30,000.

‘At the moment, we don’t know how many treatments Edie is going to need so we’re hoping to raise at least £700,000 to cover the cost.’

In April, Edie was named as an honorary 41st place by Jockey Club Racecourses at the Randox Health Grand National.

The place was first introduced for five-year-old Bradley Lowery who passed away after battling a rare cancer called neuroblastoma in July 2017.

And after hearing about Edie’s appeal at Aintree Racecourse, a kind-hearted mystery benefactor then donated £250,000 towards her treatment.

After the donation, Gemma Lowery said: ‘We are very grateful to Aintree Racecourse and the Jockey Club for allowing Edie to be part of the Grand National.

‘We were thrilled to get her name out there and thanks to them, there has been an anonymous donation.

‘This has taken a lot of stress away from the family and allowed us to breathe a little bit more.

‘However crucial funding is still needed and we will continue to work towards our fundraising goal.’ 

WHAT IS DIFFUSE INTRINSIC PONTINE GLIOMA (DIPG)?

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a rare type of brain tumour

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a rare type of brain tumour that can’t be operated on because of it’s location within a crucial part of the brain, called the pons.  

This area is responsible for a number of critical bodily functions, such as breathing, sleeping and blood pressure.

The high-grade brain tumour, which mostly affects children, tends to grow quickly and often spreads to other parts of the brain or spinal cord.

Most diagnoses occur in youngsters between the ages of five and 10. The cause of the tumour remains unknown.

More than 90 per cent of its victims will die within 18 months of diagnosis, according to figures.

Each year, there are around 100 to 150 new diagnoses in the US. In the UK, it strikes between 20 and 30 each year. 

Symptoms include lack of facial control, double vision, headaches, vomiting, weakness, seizures and balance problems. 

One of the early indicators of the cancer is a child falling, tripping or losing balance. 

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