Little girl dies from cancer after planning her own funeral
An eight-year-old girl from Scotland has died from cancer after planning her own funeral when she was told her disease was terminal.
Darcy McGuire passed away on the morning of December 15, with her devastated mother sharing the news on Facebook.
"It's with a hugely broken heart that I tell everyone Darcy Rae Mcguire gained her angel wings this morning," Carol Donald wrote.
"Darcy was truly one in a million and a huge part of my heart will never heal. I'm so grateful to have had 8 amazing years with her, she has taught me so much in this last year and the strength she has maintained throughout is what will keep me strong.
"Fly high with the angels my precious dear Darcy."
Darcy suffered from ill health from the age of three. Facebook/DarcyRae'sDream
Ms Donald says Darcy had helped plan "every single part of her funeral" after being diagnosed with a rare spinal cancer in January.
Darcy first became sick at the age of three, but according to her family, her cancer remained undetected this year despite multiple visits to her GP and a number of specialists. After four years of ill health, Darcy was diagnosed with chordoma, a rare form of slow-growing cancer that can occur anywhere along the spine.
It took four years for the rare form of cancer to be detected. Facebook/DarcyRae'sDream
Ms Donald first took her daughter to the doctor when she discovered a lump on her spine.
"If this had been found earlier, I have no doubt Darcy could have stood a chance at beating this cruel disease," Ms Donald told The Mirror.
She says Darcy was in "constant pain" and losing weight, but the family were reassured by doctors that it was simply "growing pains".
After months of agonising pain, Darcy began to fall over at the start of this year.
Mary Donald with her daughter Darcy. Facebook
By then, she had three large tumours on her spine and sacrum (the base of the spine that connects to the pelvis). It was also discovered the cancer had spread to her ribs, lungs, skull, hand, arms and legs.
Emergency chemotherapy was attempted in order to shrink Darcy's tumours and extend her life, but nothing could be done to save her.
Darcy, eight, helped to plan her funeral. Facebook/DarcyRae'sDream
Ms Donald says she believes if her daughter's cancer had been discovered when she first fell ill, she could have survived.
"I was so angry and frustrated because I always knew, as her mum, that something was being missed," she said.
Her mother says she believes her daughter would had survived had the cancer been discovered sooner. Facebook/DarcyRae'sDream
She says she chose to be "extremely honest" with her daughter about her disease and the prognosis so she could give her "something she could control."
Darcy suffered from ill health most of her life. She was born with congenital kyphosis - an anomaly of the spine - and required two major operations when she was a baby.
