Teenage cancer sufferer from Crossways living life to full

Nevah Richards, of Crossways, was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma - a rare form of bone cancer – last year.

The diagnosis changed life beyond all recognition for the 14-year-old and her family.

Having endured gruelling treatment and long stays in hospital, the Thomas Hardye School student is now making up for lost time with her cancer currently ‘stable’.

She and her family have recently returned from a celebratory trip to Greece and are now counting down the days until they embark on an incredible trip to Australia – a place that Nevah has always wanted to visit.

Nevah (second from right) and her family (Image: Adam Richards)

She will also travel to Orlando, Florida, on a holiday arranged by Dreamflight, a UK charity that takes children with a serious illness or disability on a holiday of a lifetime.

Heather, Nevah’s mum, said the family ‘isn’t taking anything for granted’.

She said that at her daughter’s last scan review ‘everything looked really good,’ and that doctors said, ‘the tumour is probably even smaller, and that the proton beam treatment is still working inside of her body.’

But Nevah also has a tumour on the back of her right lung and another on the front of her left lung, ‘neither of which has grown, which is a good sign,’ she said.

The family are now ‘keeping an eye’ on how Nevah is going to live with cancer in the future.

READ MORE: Community rallies to support 13-year-old girl with cancer

Heather said: “It’s as good as we can get it now and Nevah is learning to live with cancer.”

As a side effect of treatment, the 14-year-old has developed early menopause and is now on medication to balance out her hormones.

READ MORE: 'Chemo is horrible' - diary of a teenager living with cancer

Despite coming to the end of her treatment journey, there is still a long road ahead for Nevah.

She said: “Everyone thinks that when you come to the end of treatment that you’re done and cured, but there’s all the side effects, including fatigue, chemo fog and I still have to take lots of pills.”

Adam, Marla, Nevah and Heather (Image: Adam Richards)

She still has to have scans every six months and reviews every three months.

Heather said: “The thing with Ewing sarcoma is that there is no guarantee that it’s going to come back in the same place.

“There is a lot to deal with in the aftermath of cancer and when you get it, you join a club that nobody wants to be a part of, and you don’t take anything for granted.

“It’s difficult but it’s nice to know that you are never alone.”

READ MORE: My cancer story: Teenager nears end of treatment 

Nevah still has to attend endocrinologist, gynaecologist and therapist appointments, with Heather noting that the cancer is ‘stable at the moment but we have to be super vigilant and recognise the signs.’

Part of what kept Nevah going throughout her treatment was her dog Coco, she said.

Nevah and Marla with their dog Coco (Image: Adam Richards)

The teenager was forced to live in London for two months whilst she was undergoing treatment at University College Hospital and ‘it wasn’t easy being away from home.’

Heather said: “The UCL staff were amazing and at the end, they all came together and did a collection for Nevah so that they could get her a nice present.

“It felt like we were hogging the corridor when we were saying all of our goodbyes.”

READ MORE: 'Not all smooth sailing' - teenager shares her cancer battle diary

Nevah has been able to return to school part time, which she said was ‘definitely tiring,’ however, she was happy ‘just to be there and see all her friends.’

She wore a wig for the first couple of weeks after she returned to school, but ditched it after it made her feel self-conscious and decided to embrace her short hair.

Left - right Adam (dad), Nevah, Marla (sister) and Heather (mum) (Image: Adam Richards)

Nevah’s diagnosis meant that she wasn’t able to celebrate her 14th birthday properly but has now made up for it with a trip to Devon where the family used to live, for a ‘big party’ with childhood friends.

She said: “It was good to see everyone again,” with Heather adding: “It was actually quite emotional.”