Back on her feet and back at home... brave little Megan's Christmas miracle

Adelina Campos

THIS is little battler Megan Malone celebrating Christmas Day with her family, just weeks after she was at death's door.

Megan (3) moved to the US at the start of this month in a bid to fight a rare cancerous brain tumour. At the time she was unable to walk or spend time with her three siblings as she lay in her hospital bed, suffering from PNET medullablastoma, a type of cancer that attacked her spine as well as her brain.

In a desperate effort to save their daughter's life, Megan's parents Sheila and John Malone, from Cill na Marta, Co Cork, decided to emigrate to America with Megan and their three other children to give Megan a greater chance of survival.

While she is still undergoing treatment, Megan's health has improved so much since moving to New York in December, that she spent Christmas at home with her parents John and Sheila, siblings Chloe (7), Dylan (5) and nine-week-old Tristan.

In fact, she is doing so well that she regained the use of her legs before Christmas Day and was searching the family's new home in Yonkers, an Irish suburb of New York, for hidden presents. "She's in really good form, chatting, eating and drinking again," her aunt Brid Malone told the Herald.

RUNNERS

"The new house was like an adventure for her, she was opening all the cupboards. She also wanted new shoes, runners, now that she's walking again.

"It's hard to believe she's in the middle of her treatment because she's improved so much. She got her last chemotherapy session on December 23, she had to do one more check-up on the 24 and then she'll have a period of rest for two weeks."

Megan was diagnosed with the rare condition in October, a few days after her parents celebrated the birth of their fourth child, Tristan.

She underwent chemotherapy at Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin, but the prognosis for her in Ireland was not good.

Her family flew to the US at the start of this month because medics at world-renowned New York Presbyterian Children's Hospital were much more experienced with the type of treatment she needed, and optimistic about her recovery.

A massive fundraising drive got under way, raising nearly €150,000, and then an anonymous benefactor stepped in with a huge donation that will cover her hospital bills.

hnews@ herald.ie