Yet another round of radiotherapy isn't going to stop 'sassy' Rosie singing her favourite song
Look closely, though and you can see this isn't a family home - it's actually a corridor and people near her are wearing blue overalls. She's at The Christie and brave Rosie is being jollied along as she walks into yet another round of gruelling radiotherapy. Just four years old, Rosie has been diagnosed with paediatric bithalamic glioma, an extremely rare brain cancer.
In December last year, her parents Stefan and Charlotte noticed their daughter was starting to complain of head pain, that she would tend to look at them sideways and that her left eye would sometimes flicker. What they initially thought was an eye problem or migraine attacks ended up being diagnosed as an aggressive, inoperable 6cm-long brain tumour.
Their little girl is now in the middle of a round of radiotherapy and chemotherapy at Manchester's renowned cancer hospital, The Christie, where doctors have told her parents Rosie's cancer is terminal and the treatment is simply to shrink the tumour and extend Rosie's life.
Despite the devastating prognosis, the parents refuse to give up and want to share their daughter's story, hoping against hope for a medical breakthrough either for Rosie or any other children who suffer the same cancer in the future.
Mum Charlotte, 36, an NHS hospital worker, told the Manchester Evening News: "If we can fight, we will fight and at least we know we have tried. I'm planning for her 18th. I'm not negative about it at all. I'm not having my bubble burst. I'm still in denial, probably, but I will fight for her."
She added: "We want to raise awareness more than anything considering it is such a rare thing. We want to reach out to people. We've found another case in Australia. If we can help one other family going through what we are going through, at least we are doing something to raise awareness."
Charlotte and her husband Stefan, a Tesco baker, are from Crewe in Cheshire - but they have stopped working now to concentrate on Rosie and are being interviewed at Jack's House, a home for families of kids with cancer near The Christie Hospital which is run by Young Lives vs Cancer. The charity gives families like the Hassalls important support and accommodation close to the hospital.
They describe Rosie as 'sassy' - she loves ice cream, glitter, singing pop songs and musical films. She had been very active and loved swimming before she became poorly.
A gofundme page has already raised more than £30,000 to help the family cope financially as they are no longer working and would otherwise struggle financially.
A scammer used a picture of Rosie from the page to set up a fake version of the fundraiser in the US - an act described as 'disgusting' by Charlotte. The bogus page has now been taken down and people who donated to it have been refunded, she says.
Charlotte, who has another child aged eight, said Rosie sometimes struggled to cope during her treatment, which involved her getting up at 5am, because she's not allowed to eat for six hours before radiotherapy.
"She has up and down days. Some days she does not want to go," said Charlotte. Describing her daughter's personality, she said: "Sassy. She know what she wants. She's independent. She knows something is wrong with her head but she doesn't know fully. She's being amazingly brave. She gets a reward every week when she gets through a full week."
Rosie has to take five tablets every morning. She's in the middle of 30 rounds of radiotherapy and 49 rounds of chemotherapy. The treatment appears to have shrunk the size of the tumour and her condition has improved but doctors have told the couple they expect the cancer to return even more aggressively in the future.
Rosie had felt dizzy and struggled to walk unaided but she can now walk without anyone holding her hand, said Charlotte. The couple are full of praise for the medics who have looked after Rosie, first at Alder Hey Children's Hospital and also at The Christie.
"We're very grateful," said Stefan.
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