Fife youngster Erin Marshall is a happy, playful five-year-old but her innocent smile belies the tough times she has endured over the past few years.
The little girl from Newport-on-Tay has bravely faced two bouts of leukaemia and a bone marrow transplant – just months after starting Newport Primary School.
It has been a long journey for Erin to build her strength back up again but she is now on the road to recovery after a difficult start to 2023.
After missing a lot of school last year due to cancer treatment, her parents Catrina Kerr, 38 and Derek Marshall, 48, have decided to enrol Erin in primary one again when the schools go back after the summer break.
And later this month, in Erin’s honour, her former childminder Anthea Davie, is doing Dundee Kiltwalk to raise money for the charity which helped the Fife youngster’s family while she was having a bone marrow transplant.
Here is Erin’s story.
When was Erin diagnosed?
Erin was diagnosed with leukaemia in December 2019 when she was just two years old.
Her chemotherapy treatment started immediately and continued for the next two-and-a-half years.
Initially she attended at the Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh before having the rest of her treatment at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee as it was closer to home.
She finished her chemotherapy in April 2022.
And on May 9 last year, Erin rang the bell to signal the end of her treatment and she was going from strength to strength.
Fife youngster Erin’s second bout of blood cancer
But sadly, just a few weeks later, at the start of July 2022 Erin started to feel unwell.
Mum Catrina said: “She was really sick and was having a lot of headaches.
“She had been in primary one for three days but we knew something just wasn’t right.
“Her blood was tested and the results showed she had leukaemia in her blood again.
“We were taken by ambulance to the new Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh and was there until November.
“An investigation by the hospital showed the leukaemia was now in her brain, which it hadn’t been in the two-and-a-half years prior.
“It was also in her central nervous system and in her bone marrow.”
Bone marrow transplant
Catrina explained that because Erin had relapsed so close to finishing her treatment, doctors told her the best chance for a potential cure was for Erin to have a bone marrow transplant.
A stem cell or bone marrow transplant replaces damaged blood cells with healthy ones. It can be used to treat conditions affecting the blood cells, such as leukaemia and lymphoma.
“She had to be in remission in order to have the transplant so Erin had to have intensive chemotherapy weekly,” Catrina said.
“They had to get her leukaemia down to such a level that she would be able to have the bone marrow transplant.
“She had intensive chemotherapy for a month and then immunotherapy for two months.”
Erin also had radiation treatment.
What is immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment.
It uses substances made by the body or in a laboratory to boost the immune system and help the body find and destroy cancer cells.
Immunotherapy can treat many different types of cancer. And it can be used alone or in combination with chemotherapy and/or other cancer treatments.
The effect of the intensive cancer treatments on Fife youngster Erin
Catrina said the treatments took their toll on her daughter.
“Erin was so poorly especially with headaches.
“She was also on high dose steroids as well initially which made her angry and hungry. She just wasn’t herself.
“Erin couldn’t go from lying down to then sitting up, she found this difficult and she had to build up the muscle strength in her legs.
“There is a park in Tayport with little steps leading to the slide and she had to initially go up these on her hands and feet.
“But now she can walk up it. It has taken her months to be able to do that.”
Campaign to find a stem cell donor
Catrina said she was told there was only one potential stem cell donor match for Erin.
A local campaign was mounted to find a suitable donor at the end of last year.
Catrina and the family encouraged people to sign up to the Anthony Nolan Register as part of that campaign.
The charity uses its register to match potential stem cell donors to blood cancer and blood disorder patients in need of stem cell transplants.
Catrina said: “Within three weeks we were told there might be a potential donor.
“But it took around a couple of months before we found out the person had definitely donated.
“The bone marrow transplant took place on December 15, 2022 at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow and it went well.”
But just three weeks later, after the transplant, Erin picked up a virus which can be a major complication for transplant patients and potentially very serious.
Catrina said her daughter was unwell for two months as a result.
She said: “The virus she picked up was resistant to treatment and she was so poorly.
“She had a lot of diarrhoea and was already very sick because of the chemo.
“But she was good and she put on a brave face. She is a very strong and tough little girl.”
Fife youngster on road to recovery after blood cancer fight
Although she started to feel better, Erin had lost a lot of her appetite and had to be fed through a tube initially.
It took her around two months to be able to eat herself again.
This was because the chemotherapy and radiation had damaged her digestive tract. She was really sore and had ulcers in her mouth.
It took time for that to heal.
But Catrina revealed: “Now she eats herself and she is very happy and healthy.
“She loves to play with her friends and is currently learning how to ride her bike. She is very active.
“We are hoping to get the green light from the hospital this week that she will be able to start P1 again.”
Signing up for Dundee Kiltwalk for Erin
In honour of Erin and her brave fight against leukaemia, her former childminder Anthea Davie has signed up to take part in Dundee Kiltwalk on August 20.
Anthea looked after Erin for a year before she was diagnosed.
And she still looks after Erin’s older sister, Neave, 8.
Anthea is raising money for the charity Calum’s Cabin, which provided accommodation for Erin’s family near Queen Elizabeth University Hospital while she was having her bone marrow transplant and recovering from the operation.
Anthea, 55, who lives in nearby Wormit, said: “I wanted to do it for her to recognise everything she has battled through and she has done it all with a smile on her face.
“Her mum wanted the charities who have helped them through this journey to get a share of any fundraising so that’s why we are doing it for Calum’s Cabin.”
Stepping out for charity Calum’s Cabin
“They provide flats for families near the hospital in Glasgow so they don’t need to travel back and forward.
“When Erin got some time out the hospital she was also able to go into this private family accommodation. This was really important to the family.”
Anthea said it is a very close-knit community so other childminders and locals have also rallied round and are doing the Kiltwalk for Calum’s Cabin too.
To make a donation to Anthea’s Kiltwalk fundraiser visit here
Catrina added: “Anthea is amazing. She has always been incredibly supportive.
“She was with me in the hospital on the day when Erin was diagnosed with leukaemia.
“Anthea has been with us from the very start of the journey.
“She is just the best.”
How is Erin now?
Catrina said Erin still attends the Glasgow hospital for regular check ups and continues to make good progress.
“Most people would look at Erin and not realise what she has been through. She has done so incredibly well.”
“The transplant saved her life and we were told that was her only option. It was her best chance of a cure.”
She added: “Erin has never been as well as she has been just now. She is in a really good place.”
