Katie, 9, rings the bell against cancer
A Cannock family has been able to ring in a change for their eldest daughter after a successful fight with cancer.
Katie Creeghan was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, a condition which affects the lymph nodes in the neck and which spread to her upper chest, in November last year.
The nine-year-old immediately began chemotherapy and battled the disease through the end of 2019 and into the new year, completing her treatment in May.
She was supported all throughout her ordeal by her mum Becky, her dad Lee and younger sister Evie, as well as a host of family, friends and other supporters.
Lee spoke about the support the family had received and how much it meant to them.
He said: "Everybody's been brilliant, to be honest, from her grandparents to her cousins to her friends at school.
"It's all been very overwhelming for Becky and I to have that support, while Katie is very appreciative about it, given her age.
"She didn't fully understand everything that was going on because she's nine, which did make it harder."
Symbolic
Katie was supported during her time in Birmingham Children's Hospital by organisations including cancer charities CLIC Sargeant and Molly Holly's.
She received a symbolic bell to ring to mark the end of her treatment, which was delivered to her home in Cannock by End of Treatment Bell Charity.
Lee said the bell signified the end of a long and hard fight for Katie and the start of a journey towards a better future, although he said they are still being cautious.
"We're just waiting for the CT scans to come through now, which were taken last Tuesday, and we should hear something pretty much within the next week or so," he said.
"We're being extra-cautious as well because of coronavirus, as we don't really want to venture out, so we're being careful not to get too excited just yet."
Mum Becky said she was very proud of her warrior princess for her fight and offered her own thanks to everyone who had supported the family.
She said: "We're absolutely amazed of what they've done and how helpful they've been, so it's nice to just be able to say thank you to everyone.
"A good friend of mine helped with childcare when we needed it, our neighbours have been amazing and we've had so many people come out to help us.
"That might have been through buying groceries for us or babysitting for us or anything we needed, so thank you all so much for your help."
