Whenever Mike Shaw would tell his daughter Abbie she’d be spending another night at The Royal Marsden, she would reply ‘yaaay’.
Mike could never understand why his three-year-old was so happy to go to hospital for cancer treatment, but he was in constant awe of his little girl.
‘She never used to complain or get upset. She just took it as normal life. Sadly, for her, I guess it was,’ Mike tells Metro.co.uk.
Abbie was diagnosed with a rare cancer – adrenal neuroblastoma – when she was 19 months old after doctors discovered a tumour in 2002. Tragically, the illness cut his daughter’s life short just under four years later.
Mike Shaw has opened up about the moment his daughter Abbie was diagnosed with a rare cancer – adrenal neuroblastoma – when she was 19 months old after doctors discovered a tumour in 2002
Recalling the day him and his wife Liz heard the awful news, Mike says, ‘At the time, we had no idea what this mystery disease was that our daughter had, so we spent hours researching it.
‘The more we looked, the more bad news we found. In the end, we stopped looking.’
Abbie spent years in and out of treatment, and for a long time, Mike and Liz were hopeful that something could be done.
Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse when Abbie was four after she’d developed a limp.
Abbie spent years in and out of treatment, and for a long time, Mike and Liz were hopeful that something could be done
A group of mothers from the community set up a fund in Abbie’s name, which has gone on to raise £70,000
Mike said his daughter’s final moments ‘remain a blur’ but ‘one of the last things he remembers was her laughing’
‘It’s one thing to hear your child’s got cancer, but to hear they’ve relapsed is just horrendous.
‘Although I don’t think it was ever said, we knew that relapse was pretty much terminal.’
That’s when a group of mothers from the community set up a fund in Abbie’s name, which has gone on to raise £70,000.
Still, in private, the family were going through hell.
‘It got to the point where we started having end-of-life conversations.
‘Everything was about keeping her comfortable and happy. We made so many great memories in that time,’ Mike says.
Through Make-A-Wish, Abbie got to be a princess for the day.
With her brother Jamie, Abbie was taken to the Disney Store near the family’s home in Guilford and allowed to choose anything she wanted.
She was then driven to a fancy hotel in a pink limo and served a princess menu by a butler.
‘We went on holidays to Hastings and the New Forest, she took part in school concerts, she won a race on sports days in a high-speed buggy, she danced at a disco.
‘There is so much to look back on and cherish.’
‘Abbie wasn’t a cancer patient. She was our daughter.
‘Her final moments are a blur, but one of the last things I remember was her laughing.’
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However Mike said there is ‘so much of his daughter’s life to look back on and cherish’ after her death
The father remembered his young daughter going on holidays to Hastings and the New Forest, taking part in school concerts and winning a race on sports days in a high-speed buggy
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