30 January 2026
Meet Maria
Maria is mum to Arabella, aged 6, Amelia, aged 9, and Isabel, aged 4.
Arabella’s Diagnosis
Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice have been supporting the family, including dad Michael, since January 2025, following Arabella’s diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic B-Cell Leukaemia in October 2024. The family were initially referred to us through our partnership with Young Lives vs Cancer, Maria explains: "Young Lives vs Cancer approached us after Arabella was diagnosed. We went from Barnet Hospital to Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), and we were there for maybe two or three weeks and at some point in that time, Young Lives vs Cancer came and introduced themselves to us. They pointed us in the right direction for local charities and explained all the medical jargon as we didn’t know anything about Arabella’s condition. Obviously, we were still in shock, trying to figure everything out and they acted like a bridge between us and the doctors who were asking us to make decisions about treatment plans."
Support from Young Lives vs Cancer
Maria found the support that Young Lives vs Cancer offered extremely valuable, she says: "They gave us the option of having the same caseworker throughout or just whoever was on call. We opted for whoever was on call, which was fine for us, but it’s great there is a choice as other families might feel they want someone who knows them and their personal circumstances. They were great and really got to know us and regularly called to check in on us or popped in to visit us when we were at GOSH. They also told us about other charities that were local to us and that might be able to help us and that’s how we found Noah’s Ark!"
Helping Children Understand a Cancer Diagnosis
Many of the 500 children that are diagnosed with cancer every year, especially those diagnosed with leukaemia, are under five years old, which presents a challenge when trying to communicate with the child or their siblings what an oncology diagnosis means. Maria and Michael navigated this challenge by using various techniques. One that they found particularly successful was a therapeutic toy lion called ‘Olly the Brave’. The toy has a removable mane that helps to normalise the idea of hair loss and comes with variations that reflect the changes in hair that can occur when hair regrows after treatment. The toys are also fitted with either a Hickman line or port (to take bloods and administer medication) that mirror the child’s access type.
Maria says: "Olly the Brave was a really good tool for Arabella, the books really helped us to take her through what her diagnosis meant and also to let her know that there are lots of children going through a similar thing, it was helpful just to have a physical talking point. We used the Olly books with Arabella’s older sister Amelia too but we also used a more advanced book as she’s a bit older and knows people that have died from cancer so had some fear around that, whereas the word leukaemia, she didn't know, she just knew that Arabella was unwell."
Life Changed Overnight
In October 2024, Arabella’s parents took her to their GP for a blood test after noticing that she had a cold sore that wouldn’t heal, her skin was yellowish and she was experiencing night sweats, all symptoms that they initially put down to a vitamin deficiency. The doctor called the family later that same day and told them to take Arabella out of school and straight to the Accident and Emergency Department of Barnet Hospital. From there, Arabella was sent to GOSH, where she was given a diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic B-Cell Leukaemia and a treatment plan of chemotherapy and steroids.
That was the last day that Arabella spent in Year One, missing half a school year. It wasn’t just classes Arabella missed, Maria says: "She missed her friends so much, she really did. Especially because it just happened so instantly, she was in school in the morning then we picked her up and she just didn't go back. She found that really difficult and felt so left out because I was still doing the school run every day with her older sister. On the days that she was well enough, we tried to coax her to come on the school run but sometimes she wasn’t up to it as she had put on a lot of weight because of the steroids and was very conscious of her friends seeing her because she looked so different."
Staying Connected to School and Friends
Maria talks about the educational support that Arabella’s school offered the family, she says: "We asked for work and activities for Arabella for when she was well enough and interested, if she wasn’t interested and not well enough, we didn't push it. Arabella did join some classes by video link which was better than her being there in person as there was a real risk of germs because her immune system was so low. She was very young, so she wasn’t going to get really behind with the work. She’s caught up now, maybe a little behind in maths but not to the extent she can’t recover but she loves reading so she’s up to speed with that."
Maria goes on to talk about the emotional support that the school offered, she says: "The school made a real effort to make sure that Arabella knew she hadn’t been forgotten. They made her a bottle full of messages from her friends, that her sister brought home, and had a mail tray for her so if anyone wanted to make a picture or write a letter they could. I think that having her sister at the same school really helped, if she'd been an only child, where we didn't have any connection to the school, I think her transition would have been harder."
Finding a New Routine
Arabella is now in the maintenance phase of her treatment, which means she needs to take daily chemo tablets and she’s back in school full-time. Maria talks about how Arabella has adapted to these changes, she says: "It was like, this hard portion is finished, you're going into maintenance and then it's, off you go, back to school. And there was also the physicality, she was completely bald when she went back to school, but she dealt with it really well. There were a lot of times where she'd say the kids at school were calling her a boy because of her hair and I think that really got her down."
Emotional Support for the Whole Family
Maria and Michael are now seeing some emotional effects of Arabella’s illness, she says: "We’re now dealing with behavioural things, she's petrified to be alone, she won't even go to the toilet on her own. It's hard to know to what extent she is just being a six-year-old or if it’s the impact of what she's been through, I would say the latter. It’s hard for her to verbalise and that's why I think the Art Therapy that she's having at Noah’s Ark is really helpful as a means of expression and she absolutely loves it. I think she's really found a love for art, but also it's given her a moment to be on her own, without her sisters, and we’re so grateful for that."
As well as the Music and Art Therapy that Arabella receives, the family regularly attend Noah’s Ark events and are part of the parent and siblings’ groups. Arabella was also recently a Noah’s Ark mascot at a recent Tottenham Hotspur F.C. game where she walked through the tunnel with the whole team and out onto the pitch just before kick-off with Team Captain, Cristian Romero. She was obviously a lucky charm for the team, who are also our charity partner, as they won 2-0.
Looking Ahead
Arabella is now in Year Two at school and the maintenance phase of her treatment ends in November 2026.
With kind thanks to Maria, Michael, Arabella, Amelia, and Isabel, for allowing us to share their story.
