A single mum who has battled cancer three times is now having to manage the care of three of her young daughters — after a brutal triple diagnosis means they all require chemotherapy.
Lesley Owens, 43, was heartbroken after recently learning three of her children, aged just 16, 18 and 20, were diagnosed with IRF8 gene deficiency, an extremely rare genetic condition that leaves the immune system unable to fight infections.
They now need intensive chemotherapy to prepare them for possible bone marrow and stem cell transplants to get better. Tragically, the oldest girl, Sinead, 20, has also been diagnosed with vulva cancer too.
Daughters face cancer and rare condition
The youngest, Rhiann, 16, was also found to have cancerous cells in the same area. The middle girl, Caitlyn, 18, is now waiting on test results to determine whether she too has cancerous cells.
Now, in an exclusive interview, Tyler Heyworth, an older sister to the three girls who live in Horden, Durham, and have struggled with illnesses their whole lives, spoke about the devastating diagnosis.
Family seeks support and donations
She has also set up a GoFundMe to help ease the financial burden and pay for things like wigs, clothing and transport to and from the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle where the loved ones have been relying on Ubers.
Tyler, 25, told us: "It's probably been one of the worst experiences of my life. I'm really close with my sisters, and obviously we all watched my mum go through it and saw how much it affected her. I feel just helpless because there's nothing I can do to obviously take the pain away, to take any of this away from them."
Tyler, who is a mum to a one-year-old boy, believes her family is only the second in the world to be diagnosed with the ultra rare condition, which requires the sisters, who are extremely vulnerable to serious infections, to find donors for bone marrow transplants. According to reports, fewer than 20 cases of IRF8 deficiency have been reported in medical literature worldwide, showing how rare it is.
Inspiration from their mum's battle
The brave sisters all witnessed their mum go through chemotherapy after her battle with skin cancer (Squamous cell carcinoma) left her now needing a stoma — and they are taking inspiration from her journey to get them through the most challenging time of their young lives.
But as for the hardest part, Tyler said: "So my 16-year-old sister was still in school at the time of the diagnosis. She's just turned 16. And due to this, she had to miss out on prom.
"All of us have got really nice long hair, and that's like one of our favourite features is our hair. Obviously to find out that they are going to have to lose their hair… I think that's what they were more upset about.
"But they've kind of come round to that idea now. They've had a good few compliments and stuff like that to give them the confidence they need."
Rhiann has lost her hair already having completed her chemotherapy and her subsequent bone marrow transplant but after being discharged from hospital last week, she returned just two days later, after picking up an infection on her journey home, showing just how weak her immune system is. Her older sisters are now waiting for their own chemotherapy to start.
Despite it being an unimaginably difficult time, they are an extremely close family, and Tyler paid tribute to their mum, Lesley, who has become a beacon of strength for everyone.
"She has been getting up and getting on with it," Tyler said. "Obviously having to watch her kids go through it… and she's also got my little brother, Riley who's 13, at home, who needs to go to school and stuff, so just the strength she's showing through it all is amazing, it really is.
"It really is just inspiring and I think that's what's given the girls the strength they need. They've seen their mum go through it and they've seen her come out the other side."
She wrote on her fundraiser that it was "heartbreaking" witnessing her younger sisters go through such intensive treatments and that "no young person should have to go through what they are going through".
Tyler added: "As their big sister and my mum's daughter, I want to do absolutely anything I can to support them and take some of the pressure away from my family. If there is anything I can do to help them through this, I will go to any lengths.
"Any donations, no matter how big or small, would mean so much to us and would help towards things such as wigs, clothing, food, transport to hospital and anything else my family may need during this incredibly difficult time."
