Mikayla Francis with her father Andrew. Source: Herald Sun
MIKAYLA Francis probably won't be here for Christmas, but that's not her biggest worry.
Mikayla, 6, who suffers from a rare liver cancer that has spread to her lungs, is worried she might be forgotten.
Dad Andrew Francis said she kept wrapping her arms around her parents, saying: "Don't forget me, don't forget me when I'm gone.
"And, 'Mummy, if you have another baby, will you tell them about me or not?'
"She's not leaving with any sense of fear, and she has done it with the utmost dignity ... she's amazing."
Doctors told Mikayla's parents to bring Christmas forward because they didn't think she would last until Santa visited.
She will celebrate Christmas and her seventh birthday on Saturday.
Brave Mikayla's courage and dignity have touched all who know her.
Well-wishers have rallied, providing jumping castles, pony rides and caterers for Mikayla's party, with up to 500 people expected at her Cockatoo home this weekend.
Mikayla was diagnosed with the liver cancer hepatoblastoma in August.
Mr Francis said he had been astonished by the grace and selflessness with which Mikayla had fought her illness.
He faced the most difficult conversation any parent could have with a child: telling her she was dying.
When he asked her if she was scared, "She said, 'No, Dad, I'm kind of excited, I just reckon heaven's going to be awesome'.
"She has no fear of dying ... she's very calm about all of those sorts of things.
"She's in good spirits. She was doing homework at the kitchen table with me yesterday, she had a dip in the pool.
"She's tired, she's unwell but it just doesn't seem like she's dying."
Their world fell apart when, after she suffered tummy pains for a week, doctors discovered a 10cm tumour in Mikayla's liver that, to their surprise, did not respond to chemotherapy.
Royal Children's Hospital oncologist Francoise Mechinaud said she did not understand why treatment had failed Mikayla.
Menzies Creek Primary School principal Tanya Cooke said of Mikayla: "She's an absolutely amazing little girl. She's touched every soul here."
bettsma@heraldsun.com.au
If you wish to donate to Mikayla's party, go to Essentialhealthfitness and click on 'Donations'
Source : Herald Sun
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