I was 11 when my parents were told to plan my funeral

I began getting poorly with severe nosebleeds, a swollen belly and yellowing of my skin and eyes (Picture: Southern News & Pictures (SNAP))

Cancer. Two liver transplants. Sepsis. A pulmonary haemorrhage. Multiple organ failure. A tracheotomy. Three months in an induced coma. A stroke and four mini strokes.

And that’s the condensed list of what I’ve been through.

At 22, I know that I am very young to have experienced all that and it all feels quite unbelievable when you write it down.

It all started when I was two and I began getting poorly with severe nosebleeds, a swollen belly and yellowing of my skin and eyes.

My parents took me to hospital and I was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a type of liver cancer. It must have been so scary for them knowing their first child was so ill – I can’t imagine how they must have felt.

I had chemotherapy initially, and was eventually given a liver transplant.

But after eight years, my body rejected the organ. All my symptoms came back, and I was put into an induced coma for nearly three months and given an adult liver instead.

Shortly after the transplant, I went into multiple organ failure as I caught a virus. My body was shutting down and I was put on support including dialysis and life support machines.

I was rushed back to hospital where they said the stroke had been caused by high blood pressure (Picture: Milly Hadden)

During those three months, I also developed sepsis, which caused severe bleeding in the mouth. My parents were told on four separate occasions that they should start planning my funeral.

I came out of the coma and it was a long slow recovery over several months, and I was eventually allowed to go home in 2014, aged 11 but just after getting back, I had a stroke.

I was rushed back to hospital where they said the stroke had been caused by high blood pressure due to the ongoing treatment.

I was put back on the machines to monitor everything and I didn’t leave the hospital for 18 months and then the rehabilitation centre for another six months – this took me from age 11 to 13.

My sisters were brought out of school and my whole family lived near the hospital during that time – my dad was going to and from work from there.

I was put back on the machines to monitor everything and I didn’t leave the hospital for 18 months (Picture: Milly Hadden)

I needed to be in intensive care to give me the support I needed; during that time, my family were told I might not be able to walk or talk again.

I had to re-learn how to do everything – and I couldn’t remember anything at all.

In fact, I still don’t remember anything from before the stroke. I don’t have any memories from before age 11.

For that reason, I think, my memories from that time in hospital are especially clear – and they’re not all happy. Far from it.

I do remember the first taste I had of an ice lolly, which was an amazing sensation, but so many other things were tough.

I had to re-learn how to do everything – and I couldn’t remember anything at all (Picture: Milly Hadden)

It was such a painful process, physically and mentally, learning to walk again. 

I missed so much school too, and being away for so long affected all my friendships. I still find I get on with people who are several decades older than me better than I do with people my own age, because I got so used to adult company.

Eventually, in Jan 2016, I was able to walk out of the rehabilitation centre – an amazing feeling – and I began to go back to school.

I was 13, so I went into Year 9. It was a shock to the system, but I made a good group of friends and I really enjoyed being there after everything I had been through. I was still in and out of hospital but I tried to make my life as normal as I could.

But it wasn’t plain sailing. Until I was aged 16, I had mini strokes, one of which caused epilepsy and that I’m on life-long medication for now.

I hated the seizures. I would get symptoms three days before, going light-headed and dizzy, and really tired. After the seizure had happened, it was like my body was resetting and I would still be tired and I couldn’t get my words out.

As I might not have been able to have children, the girls feel even more special (Picture: Milly Hadden)

Back then, I needed a lot of care; but I’m at a point where I haven’t had a seizure since I was 16.

Now, I am as healthy as I possibly can be after all I have been through – although my hip and knee are damaged, because my stroke happened when I was growing and it affected my development, so I need joint replacements, which will happen at some point in the future.

My parents were always told the chemo had affected my chances of having a child so, when I fell pregnant at 18, it was certainly a surprise.

I’d also always known that, if it did happen, I would be a high-risk pregnancy.

After I did the pregnancy test, I actually told my nurse at the hospital before I told my mum as I wanted to get their advice first. 

I was worried to tell Mum, more because of how young I was than because of any health concerns, but I did. She was shocked at first, but she is a brilliant grandmother.

Thankfully everything was OK with me and I gave birth to a healthy baby daughter, before falling pregnant again just six months later. Tallulah is two now and Otillie is one – they are my world.

In November, I will be seizure-free for six years and I have the go-ahead for a driving licence so I am in the process of getting that, which is really exciting.

I still have to take my seizure and transplant medication every day at 8am to keep my liver working and stop seizures, and then I take the seizure medication at 8pm in the evening too, but this is my daily routine and I don’t know anything different. It’s not something I really think about, especially as I am now so busy just being a mum.

As I might not have been able to have children, the girls feel even more special. My daughters and I live by ourselves and I have help from my family and my neighbours, who are brilliant. I think I have done pretty well and, even at the peak of tiredness as a mum, I still feel so lucky.

It’s a privilege to be my daughters’ mum. They can be mischievous at times, but I wouldn’t change them for the world.

Everyone calls me a walking miracle – and now I have two amazing daughters. We’re three miracles together.

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