Cancer girl, 7, could die ‘stranded among strangers in Mexico’

By CHARLOTTE THOMSON
Published on 22/06/2012 00:00

THE family of a seriously ill schoolgirl have said they fear she will lose her battle for life stranded in Mexico.

Olivia Downie flew to Tijuana to undergo specialist cancer treatment earlier this month. But the bed-ridden seven-year-old is not responding to medication and is in a critical condition.

Doctors have refused permission to fly her home to Fraserburgh without medical support on the flight.

Her family are now trying to raise almost £140,000 to bring her back to Scotland.

A private jet charter from Tijuana to Aberdeen Airport would cost £137,196.

Her mother, Lauren, 27, who is 25 weeks’ pregnant, said: “I am hoping for a miracle where we can take her home and have her for a little while.

“My best-case scenario is to get home, so if she was going to die she could be surrounded by her family and friends – not here.

“We want her surrounded by friends and family that love her, not strangers in Mexico.

“She was in quite a bad condition when we came, but now she’s critical.

“The charity that we’re involved with is already having to fork out money that we don’t have. Any support we can get to help get her back home would be a massive help.

“I don’t know what the next few hours or days will be like. I asked the doctors what her chances of dying are and they would just tell me she’s in critical condition.”

Olivia flew out to the Hope 4 Cancer Institute in Mexico to undergo photodynamic therapy.

Doctors confirmed she will not be well enough to travel on the 2 July return flight for which her family had already paid.

Instead, Olivia will need to secure a specialist medical flight to return home.

Olivia was diagnosed with just a 20 per cent chance of survival when doctors discovered a grapefruit-sized tumour next to her kidney three years ago.

She underwent surgery and chemotherapy to treat the aggressive tumour and was given the all-clear in 2010.

But her family were forced to fly her to Germany when the cancer returned, after managing to raise £40,000 for groundbreaking treatment.

Her parents thought Olivia had conquered her illness, but new tumours were detected in her spine and behind her breast bone.

The couple hoped treatment in Mexico would save her life, but they soon learned fluid had spread to her lungs and brain.

She was given a special injection that was supposed to make the tumours easier to break down but it made her worse.

Her mother added: “Olivia has taken a turn for the worst. She couldn’t even hear me. I was trying to tell her that I love her, but she couldn’t hear me.

“I was holding her hand and telling her to squeeze if she could hear me, but she didn’t even move.”

• To donate, visit {http://www.just giving.com/olivia-downie-appeal|just giving.com/olivia-downie-appeal|just giving.com/olivia-downie-appeal}