Woman takes on Mount Snowdon in support of 3-year-old niece with brain tumour

Elaine Hyder, auntie to Aria, will be taking on the challenge on June 5 in the hopes of raising awareness around Aria’s condition, diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG).

DIPG is a terminal, inoperable and untreatable aggressive brain tumour with 1% of children making it to five years from diagnosis.

Elaine said: “Doing this challenge means a lot to us as with DIPG being such an underfunded area of research, we really want to raise awareness.”

Elaine will be supporting her brother and Aria’s Dad, Carl Hodgkiss, on the climb alongside Aria’s brother, sisters, and neighbours.

Elaine will be taking part in the climb up Mount Snowdon on June 5

DIPG is where cancerous cells mix with normal healthy cells meaning due to its delicate location it is impossible to remove.

Elaine tells the Globe, the only treatment currently available to Aria is radiotherapy which can prolong life by six months.

Elaine said: “My brother recently said to me; ‘the more awareness the better – people need to be aware that the symptoms of DIPG can be hard to spot, especially in young children and the doctors could dismiss it.

“’We had to fight for an MRI as we knew since last September that something wasn’t right, so parents need to follow their gut instinct and push for a scan’.”

Elaine added: “Aria had started to lose her ability to walk but they were being told it was looking like Cerebal Palsy, but it was the tumour all along.”

Elaine's brother, Carl, will also be taking part in the climb up Snowdon to raise money for his daughter Aria.

Now Aria is going to be starting radiotherapy at Clatterbridge Hospital in two weeks where she will be put to sleep every day for two to three weeks.

Elaine said: “At age three the poor little thing has already been through so much.

“She has recently had a cannula fitted into her chest so that she doesn’t have to keep having one put in each time.”

So far Elaine and her family have managed to raise £2,740 of their £20,000 target.

The money raised will be to fund a potential new treatment called TBL 12 which has been found to significantly inhibit the growth of tumours.

Aria and her Dad Carl

However, the cost of the treatment can cost up to $40,000 per year and is not funded by the NHS.

Elaine said: “I’ve been absolutely blown away by the support people have shown.

“Everyone has been so generous and considerate – from family and friends, my place of work to complete strangers donating and sharing and generally offering to help in any way they can.

“It really does remind you how many amazing people there are out there.”

You can donate to the Just Giving page here.