Sister of the first Ormond St baby goes home after beating cancer

Family Christmas: Nicola Tyler with Kelly, centre, Zac, and older daughter Chloe
12 April 2012

A young cancer patient whose mother was the first to give birth at Great Ormond Street is enjoying her first family Christmas since being given the all-clear.

Kelly Tyler, six, was in the middle of treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma when her mother Nicola, 33, went into labour on the ward.

Her new brother Zac, now three months, was the first baby born at the 157-year-old hospital, which does not have a maternity unit.

Now Kelly has made a full recovery and is looking forward to spending time with her brother and sister at home in Canvey Island, Essex.

Ms Tyler, who also has a 10-year-old daughter, Chloe, told the Evening Standard it was "brilliant" to have Kelly healthy for Christmas.

She added: "At the start I thought, 'How am I going to live without my daughter?' But Kelly has finished all her treatment and is on the mend. Her hair has now grown back and she loved it - in hospital everyone thought she was a boy.

"Little Zac is a chirpy fellow and sleeps through the night. It's brilliant to have both for Christmas."

Kelly still needs check-ups but her treatment has been successful. She had a tumour the size of a golf ball which was discovered when she went to have her tonsils out in June. She was in hospital for nine days with her mother while Ms Tyler's partner Dave Abbott, 38, stayed at home to look after Chloe.

Ms Tyler had been worried she might go into labour but believed she would have time to get to her own hospital. However, four days into the stay on the Elephant ward she felt contractions.

Ward sister Sue Snaith called University College Hospital - a 10-minute drive away - and was told that because the contractions were 30 minutes apart there would be plenty of time to transfer the expectant mother.

Ms Tyler called Mr Abbott, who set off for the hospital. She then took a bath and lay on the bed in Kelly's room.

But within minutes her contractions became stronger and more frequent and soon Zac was delivered, with the help of a senior nurse who is also a qualified midwife, and two other staff. Mr Abbott arrived 10 minutes later.

Zac, who was born five days early on 4 September, spent the first four days of his life with his mother and sister in the hospital while Kelly finished her treatment.

Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity needs to raise £50million every year to help rebuild and refurbish the site, buy vital equipment and fund cutting-edge medical research. It has an online Christmas shop to help raise funds.

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