A four-year-old girl has lost 80 per cent of her skin just months after fighting off cancer, leaving her parents ‘traumatised.’
Avery Beal, from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, was diagnosed with leukaemia at 11 months old.
After years of agonising treatment, she was declared cancer-free following a bone transplant in March last year.
But now the youngster has been hospitalised once more with scalded skin syndrome, which is separate from her cancer and causing her severe discomfort.
A four-year-old girl (pictured) has lost 80 per cent of her skin just months after fighting off cancer, leaving her parents ‘traumatised.’
Avery Beal (pictured), from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, was diagnosed with leukemia at 11 months old
After years of agonising treatment, she was declared cancer-free following a bone transplant in March last year
Her shattered parents say ‘she can’t be cuddled or get comfortable in bed.’
Avery’s father David Beal shared the heartbreaking news and tear-jerking pictures in an update on his daughter’s GoFundMe page and on Facebook.
He wrote: ‘Avery has now been admitted into ICU with a dreadful skin infection suspected to be Scalded Skin Syndrome and has lost 80 per cent of her skin.
‘We are once again faced with being split apart as a family. Any help you can give us in this traumatic time would be really appreciated. Thank you.’
He also said there was an 85 per cent chance Avery’s cancer would return, meaning they were ‘not out of the woods yet’.
On Sunday the youngster caught chickenpox in yet another blow for the family.
Now the youngster has been hospitalised once more with scalded skin syndrome, which is separate from her cancer, leaving her in severe discomfort
They wrote online: ‘Avery’s body after so much chemo and a transplant doesn’t have the ability to fight this off so Avery has been put on medication to help her with this.
‘Our other problem is infection. Avery has a high temp so they are thinking there is an infection somewhere but not sure where.
‘We are testing as many different things as possible and she is on lots of different antibiotics to give her good coverage.’
Mr Beal previously explained how his family was torn asunder by his daughter’s illness.
He wrote on the fundraising page: ‘My name is David and my wife Jen and I have 6 beautiful children Ella, Dan, Tom, James, Sienna and Avery and we live on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Devastation: Her shattered parents say ‘she can’t be cuddled or get comfortable in bed.’
‘In August 2014 our youngest daughter Avery, who was 11 months old at the time, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL).
‘This is a shockingly common form of blood cancer, and this diagnosis turned our lives upside down. Since then our whole family has been on a long journey with big ups and big downs that is still not close to being over.
‘Following the diagnosis, Avery was put on a protocol of chemotherapy which ended up leading to a bone marrow transplant in April 2015.
‘Due to Avery’s young age, throughout this whole period of close to a year, Jen and Avery were almost permanently living in hospital in Brisbane. This was very hard on our family.’
Avery is now being treated in Brisbane’s Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital. here.
Battle: Avery is now being treated in Brisbane’s Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital