Six-year-old given weeks to live after rare cancer was initially mistaken for arm sprain

Now, her family faces the devastating reality that they have roughly eight weeks remaining with her.

"The cancer has doubled again in six weeks," her stepmother Caroline Spence shared, explaining that doctors expect the disease to peak around mid-March.

The youngster first developed a lump on her arm back in December 2024, accompanied by sharp pain.

Initially, doctors believed it was nothing more than a sprain, but when Bonnie-Leigh came back for a second visit, they decided to scan her arm.

That scan delivered the heartbreaking confirmation of her cancer diagnosis.

Caroline, 32, revealed that medical staff at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle performed a full-body MRI, which showed the disease had already spread.

"They had to amputate her arm above her elbow, and after that, she had chemo for 28 weeks. She had it every two weeks; it was an intense 28 weeks," Caroline explained.

The cancer had spread to her lungs, where it began cutting off nerves and leaking toxins into her kidneys.

"Around June time, she had two weeks of radiotherapy to try and shrink the tumours in the lungs. They were huge," Caroline said.

Despite the intensive treatment, the family received crushing news that the tumours had returned and were "building up momentum again".

"The doctors have said she's had the maximum dosage of chemotherapy, so now we're waiting for the tumours in her body essentially," Caroline shared.

"They're just waiting for it to hit its momentum, they've said it would be about mid-March. It would be days after it peaks that we could lose."

With time running short, the family has been raising funds to give Bonnie-Leigh as many special experiences as possible.

Her dad, Iain, a former soldier who now works as an HGV driver, and Caroline, a midwife, have both taken leave from their jobs to care for her.