EIGHT-year-old Emily Smith was taken to hospital by her parents after she woke up with a “strange feeling in her arm”.
She died just 11 days later, leaving her parents “utterly heartbroken to the point where it physically hurt”.
Emily Smith died just 11 days after being diagnosed with a brain tumour
She was described as ‘the sunshine in every room’
Emily displayed no obvious symptoms until she woke up with a funny feeling in her arm
Andy Smith, pictured with his daughter Emily
Described by her mum, Sarah, as “the sunshine in every room”, Emily was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour while on a family holiday in 2022.
She showed no obvious symptoms in the lead-up to her diagnosis.
Emily was only mildly tired, which her family put down to a busy – she’d taken part in ballet shows and drama class exhibitions, and had attended a big family wedding as a bridesmaid.
On July 28 2022, she woke up with what her parents described as “a strange feeling in her arm and began walking with a bit of a limp”, but she continued playing with her older brother Harry and could run around.
After her parents rang 111 for medical advice, Emily went for an appointment at the nearest hospital.
Doctors were not “overly concerned” with her symptoms, and blood tests came back clear, so it was recommended that she be sent home.
But the final doctor she saw suggested Emily have an MRI scan for the family’s peace of mind.
This revealed a .
The days that followed were “unbearably traumatic”, Andy said, as “the horror of what was growing inside Emily’s brain became apparent”.
Just days later, on August 2, Emily became distressed and started vomiting.
Her tumour had begun to bleed and she subsequently slipped into a coma.
Though she was rushed into hospital for emergency , her parents were told it was too late and nothing more could be done to help her.
Emily was put on palliative care and died on August 8 2022, just 11 days after diagnosis.
Both her parents were “left numb with shock, trauma, and disbelief” by that night, her dad Andy, an worker from Hertfordshire, said.
Emily really was one of a kind. She was all the good things you can think of and none of the bad
Andy Smith
“Utterly heartbroken to the point where it physically hurt,” he added.
“Emily was so full of life and now she is dead.
“Emily had her whole life ahead of her and now she’ll never live it.
“Our lives will never be the same again.
“Everyone thinks their own children are special, but Emily really was one of a kind.
“She was all the good things you can think of and none of the bad.”
Emily ‘was all the good things and none of the bad’, her dad said
Her family is fundraising for brain tumour research in her memory
Andy is running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in memory of his daughter
Her brother Harry received a Points of Light award and a British Citizen Youth Award to mark his fundraising efforts
In the years after her death, the couple set up Emily’s Fund within the Brain Tumour Charity , dedicated to funding research into brain tumours.
While brain cancer is the biggest killer of children and adults under 40, it receives less than 3 per cent of the national spending on cancer research.
“Treatments have not progressed for decades – there are so many types of brain tumour that currently have no cure at all, so it’s vital that research continues,” Andy said.
Since 2023, he has raised some £100,000 for the charity alongside his friends and family.
This includes Emily’s brother Harry, who has received a Points of Light award from the Prime Minister and a British Citizen Youth Award to mark his efforts.
This includes a 2023 climb of Scafell Pike, ‘s highest peak, a mile-a-day swim amounting to a marathon in 2024, and a duathlon this year: 80km before running 8km, marking 88km in total to combine both Emily’s age and the date she died.
The most common symptoms of a brain tumour
More than 12,000 Brits are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour every year — of which around half are cancerous — with 5,300 losing their lives.
The disease is the most deadly in and adults aged under 40, according to the Brain Tumour .
Brain tumours reduce life expectancies by an average of 27 years, with just 12 per cent of adults surviving five years after diagnosis.
There are two main types, with non-cancerous benign tumours growing more slowly and being less likely to return after .
Cancerous malignant brain tumours can either start in the brain or spread there from elsewhere in the body and are more likely to return.
Brain tumours can cause , , , vomiting and , according to the .
They can also lead to changes in personality weakness or paralysis on one side of the problem and problems with speech or vision.
The nine most common symptoms are:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Feeling sick
- Being sick
- Memory problems
- Change in personality
- Weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- Vision problems
- Speech problems
If you are suffering any of these symptoms, particularly a from the ones you normally get, you should visit your GP.
Source: NHS
Andy will run the Royal Parks Half Marathon in October to raise more for the charity, alongside Emily’s uncle, Jonny.
The dad will carry a 23kg weighted vest as he takes part in the central race – the equivalent of Emily’s weight when she died – in hope of “carrying her to the finish line”.
Ahead of race day, Andy said he just wanted to make his daughter proud, adding: “Whilst it’s too late for her, the mission is to raise more money, to give more hope to others, and provide better outcomes for other families.
“I’m going to be running with ‘Emily’s Dad’ on my vest, and I really love it when I hear people cheering for ‘Emily’s Dad!’ as I run past.”
Andy said it was “still unbelievable” to him that Emily is “not here and that this is forever”.
counselling have been important to him and his family, he said, adding: “I would recommend this to any parent who has lost a child. You have to talk about it.”
“It’s important to remember that grief is not a linear process where life gets easier or you ‘move on’. I would never want to.
“I always remind myself that this deep feeling of grief is proportionate to how much love we all have for Emily, so I’ll never allow the strength of that grief to fade.”
Andy’s ‘deep feeling of grief is proportionate to how much love we all have for Emily’
He still can’t believe she’s no longer here 
