Inspirational Issy

Isabelle Diana Martin was born on the 27^th August 2016 and myself and my wife Anna could not have been happier; she brightened our life from the moment we set eyes on her.

She soon started to turn into a fun, caring and joyful little girl that would bring the whole family so much entertainment and a lot of fantastic times to remember forever. She had a cheeky side to her but was it always with an endearing charm.

She loved becoming a big sister to baby Sophie and would announce many times a day that ‘she loved her little sister so much’.

Hours were spent at her local park with friends climbing, scooting and playing hide and seek. When it was time for, in her words, ‘a little chill’ she loved settling down with her books and a cheeky snack.

Issy was not ill for long and really only showed mild symptoms of occasional vomiting for 4 to 5 weeks, before the occurrence of a stiff neck led us to a number of trips to the doctors and A&E. A few weeks before Isabelle’s third birthday we were given a CT scan at our local hospital which didn’t show up anything of concern but were referred to Addenbrookes for a more detailed MRI scan to investigate further. At this point we were obviously concerned but were not expecting anything of the magnitude that came next.

The MRI showed a growth on Issy’s spine that after a biopsy was confirmed to be a rare and aggressive childhood cancer called a Rhabdoid Tumour. Devastatingly, the location of the tumour meant that in Isabelle’s case removing the cancer through surgery was not option.

Issy showed unbelievable strength throughout her short battle and fought through a lifesaving operation prior to her final terminal prognosis.

The courage Isabelle showed during her illness is something that as a family we take massive strength and inspiration from in our lives. Issy was made comfortable and had her family around her as she left us on the 12^th August 2019, a short ten days after initial diagnosis.