A mum is planning to take on an incredible challenge next month to raise vital funds for a worthy cause after a brain tumour diagnosis devastated her family.
Her daughter Sonia was diagnosed with a brain tumour in August 2019, following months of tests to try and find the cause of her unexplained weight loss.
“Sonia was nearly 18 months old when we noticed she was losing weight”, Paola explained.
“She weighed 10 kilos at 12 months, but six months later she’d dropped to nine kilos. We saw the GP, who thought it was because she was beginning to walk and move more [but] she’d also stopped breastfeeding and had started nursery, so there were lots of changes going on.
ADVERTISEMENT
“As a mum, I was worried I wasn’t giving her the right foods, but she seemed to be eating normally and enjoyed healthy food, especially broccoli and avocado [so] I spoke to the health visitor, who encouraged me to put pressure on the GP for a referral to a paediatrician”.
In March 2019, as Sonia’s weight was still not increasing, they were referred to a paediatrician at Trafford General Hospital.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sonia, who was two at the time, underwent blood tests, but no cause for her weight loss was found.
Paola continued: “In May 2019, they took stool samples and she had an x-ray and an ultrasound on her stomach [but] again, they found nothing.
“Four months later, we were sent to the gastroenterology department at Manchester Royal Children’s Hospital [and] they carried out a colonoscopy and a biopsy and did further blood tests and scans.
ADVERTISEMENT
“They also tested for diabetes, as she was drinking a lot of water [but] nothing revealed any abnormalities.”
Brain Tumour ResearchBrain Tumour Research
Finally, Sonia was sent for an MRI scan, which to Paola’s huge shock, revealed a large mass on her brain.
“My husband and I were completely dumbfounded.” Paola continued.
“I had started to think there was something seriously wrong with Sonia, but I never suspected a brain tumour – we couldn’t believe it. At that stage, they didn’t know whether it was low or high grade, or whether they would be able to operate [and] we had to wait a few days for a biopsy.”
Sonia’s biopsy revealed the tumour was a suprasellar low-grade glioma, near to the pituitary gland – which influences many processes, including growth.
ADVERTISEMENT
Because of its location close to the optic nerve, Sonia’s tumour was inoperable.
Paola added: “We discussed Sonia’s treatment plan with her consultant oncologist and opted for an 18-month course of chemotherapy, which she started in September 2019. She had to have a port inserted next to her heart, through which the drugs would be administered weekly.
“Being in hospital made Sonia very upset and angry and she cried a lot.”
Brain Tumour Research
As she contracted viruses and suffered high fevers at the beginning of her chemotherapy regime, Sonia spent much of October, November and December 2019 in hospital, but in December, Paola’s family visited from Mexico and by January 2020 Sonia was well enough to celebrate her third birthday at home with her relatives.
Paola said: “Even though 2020 was a hugely challenging year for so many people, for us, it was really positive, as it marked significant improvement in Sonia’s health.
ADVERTISEMENT
“As her chemotherapy progressed, her mood improved. She gained weight and the tumour even started to shrink a little bit. In September she was well enough to start pre-school, which was just fantastic after everything she has been through.
“She’s thriving and is very happy.”
Sonia has 17 weeks of chemotherapy left, and she continues to be monitored with MRI scans every three months.
Brain Tumour Research
Paola is set to join thousands of other fundraisers around the country by completing 10,000 Steps a Day for 28 days next month in aid of Brain Tumour Research.
“Research is really important to us, as it meant that when Sonia got her diagnosis, she had treatment options and when there are options, there is hope.” Paola said.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I’ve signed up to this challenge to raise awareness and support a cause really close to our hearts.
“My own mental health suffered because of Sonia’s illness and I overate and gained weight, as I struggled to cope [so] I have started walking and running again to lose the weight and I’m hoping that joining this challenge will also impact positively on my mental wellbeing.
“And as well as getting out and pounding the pavements, I’ll be clocking up the steps by dancing with Sonia [as] it’s something we love to do together.”
Sonia’s dad Ivan Aparicio added: “We have been very lucky so far because Sonia has responded to the treatment [but] throughout our journey, we have encountered families whose children have exactly the same tumour as Sonia and they are on their third round of chemo and slowly going blind.
“It breaks my heart and terrifies me to see what this brain tumour can do.
ADVERTISEMENT
“While chemotherapy is a well-known treatment, it isn’t always effective, and its side effects can have a lasting impact on a child’s life.
“More research is definitely needed to find treatments that are predictable, effective and safe.”
Brain Tumour Research
Brain Tumour Research funds sustainable research at dedicated centres in the UK.
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, and the only way to change that is through research to find more effective treatments and ultimately a cure.
Matthew Price – Community Development Manager at Brain Tumour Research – added: “We were so sorry to learn about Sonia’s brain tumour diagnosis, but we are also really pleased that she is making good progress and responding well to treatment.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We wish her all the best for the rest of her chemotherapy.
“We thank Paola for signing up to take part in our challenge and will be with her every step of the way, helping to get us closer to a cure.”
You can find further information about the 10,000 Steps a Day in February in the challenge’s dedicated Facebook group here, and learn more via the Brain Tumour Research website.
Trending
A completely objective ranking of every Quality Street sweet
Gareth Lloyd
It’s Christmas Day and dinner is done.
Dad is sat there snoozing with his mouth ajar, a glass of red wine hanging loosely between his fingers. Mum is tapping away on her phone, probably doing some intel as to how her gifts went down with relatives. An aunt, uncle and or grandparent is propped up in the corner, frowning in confusion at the “rubbish” playing on the television.
The rest of you are eyeing up the purple tub of chocolates sitting on the dining room table. Dad’s spilled drink will wake him up at any moment. Mum has nearly finished finding out if her pressies were a success. And the aunt/uncle/grandparent will soon want a distraction from that “stupid” programme they can’t understand.
Someone is about to lift the lid off the Quality Street, and then it’s game time. With a belly already fit to burst, you need to choose wisely. Not all of these chocolates are created equal, after all.
For 85 years, ranking Quality Street has proven more problematic than naming a round piece of bread (is it a barm, bap, bun, breadcake cob, roll? One problem at a time…), but we reckon we’ve cracked it.
Here’s a definitive list that ought to put you in pole position during the annual Christmas Day race for the best chocolates in the tub.
11. Toffee Penny
Chowing down on a Toffee Penny is like listening to an elderly family member trying to read aloud a long joke from a Christmas cracker.
On and on it goes, getting more tedious and uncomfortable by the second, and just as you think it’s all over, you realise it’s only getting started.
Chewy, sickly and sticky, Toffee Pennies are always among the last choccies remaining in any depleted Quality Street box. And that’s no coincidence.
10. Toffee Finger
Toffee Fingers. Credit: The Manc Group
A little less chewy and a bit more flavoursome than the Penny, the Toffee Finger is a familiar and distinctive Quality Street staple… but it’s still not something to get particularly excited about.
Maybe one is fine when it’s getting late, the layers are thinning out and you’re left staring into that abyss of scrunched-up wrappers, but otherwise, you can do far better.
This is one of the few instances in life where you should not go for gold.
9. Coconut Eclair
Coconut eclairs. Credit: The Manc Group
It’s funny how some flavours have an incredible ability to get people riled up to the point of boiling hot anger. Take coriander, for instance – a herb despised so much that someone actually made a Facebook account titled ‘I Hate Coriander’ that has since grown into a community of a quarter of a million members. The page even sells merch nowadays.
Coconut is another ingredient that seems to stir up similar sensations in certain members of the population, and a lot of people find Quality Street’s blue-wrapped choccies borderline offensive as a result (the coconutty Bounty gets the same treatment when the Celebrations come out).
Indeed, in one YouGov poll, the Coconut Eclair ranked as the least popular variety of all.
As coconut fans, we’re actually ok with it, but we appreciate there’s no way to talk anyone into giving the Eclair a second chance. The hostility towards coconut is just too strong. The people who hate it, really hate it.
8. Fudge
Fudge. Credit: The Manc Group
Fudge’s are fine. Absolutely fine. It’s just that over the years, we might have had way too many of them.
Consumer group Which? conducted research into chocolate tubs that found that Fudges are the most common flavour in any typical Quality Street box – with an average of nine appearing amongst the multicoloured rubble.
That’s a lot of fudges. And whilst they might be pretty decent, it’s just like anything else: Too much of the same and it gets a bit… meh.
7. Orange Crunch
Orange Crunch. Credit: The Manc Group
The Orange Crunch boasts a nice blend of textures and to be fair, it’s pretty damn good.
It’s got zest, it’s got bite, and it’s got a few very, very loyal fans – some of whom will shamelessly bat away the hands of others to snap up all the little orange hexagons from the moment the Quality Street is opened.
If there’s one going spare, it’s worth grabbing. Just make sure you don’t have any die-hard Orange Crunch fans in the house. Otherwise, Christmas could get ugly.
6. Milk Choc Block
Milk Choc Block. Credit: The Manc Group
The chocolate box equivalent of a Yorkie bar, the Milk Choc Block requires a bit of effort to actually eat – so it may not be the wisest choice immediately after a gluttonous Christmas dinner. But when things have settled and you’re finally sensing a bit of wiggle room, it’s worth plucking one of these dark green wrappers from the tub and getting stuck in.
These beasty blocks are a cracking accompaniment for your afternoon/evening cuppa, and whilst they can take a while to break down, they won’t lose their flavour.
A perfect option when you’re not feeling too adventurous.
5 & 4. Strawberry Delight / Orange Creme
Strawberry and orange fruit cremes. Credit: The Manc Group
We’re into the upper echelons of the Quality Street rankings now, and whilst some will be loathed to admit it, the fruit cremes definitely belong towards the top end of the table.
Eating Strawberry Delights or Orange Cremes is like sipping a strong, exotic cocktail. The distinct flavour and strange texture takes you by surprise at first, and you can embrace or reject it. We recommend the former. Once you’ve had one or two and you’re on board, there’s no going back. You’ll realise just how good these things are.
We’re cheating here and ranking these two choccies side-by-side. They’re just too tough to set apart.
3. Caramel Swirl
Caramel swirl. Credit: The Manc Group
Caramel Swirls feel like the desserts of the aristocracy. The wrappers have the shimmering, royal quality of a Ferrero Roche – except the choccies have got a gooey, gold, rich, creamy centre to match.
Understandably, the Caramel Swirl can be a bit too much for some. But on a day when you want to indulge – there are few desserts more fitting.
Take a couple and treat yourself. You got through 2024, for God’s sake. You’ve earned it.
2. Green Triangle
The Green Triangle. Credit: The Manc Group
The Green Triangle is the Tom Hanks of box chocolates: It’s been around forever and no matter what the setting, it will never let you down.
It’s reassuring, solid and reliable. It’s easy to love. And it makes ordinary movies more enjoyable than they should be.
Good old Green Triangle. Never change.
1. The Purple One
The Purple One. Credit: The Manc Group
All hail The Purple One. God tier chocolate. The biggest, most beloved, and indisputably the best.
With handsome wrapping and delicious contents of milk chocolate, runny caramel and a crunchy hazelnut at its core, The Purple One appears on top of user polls time and time again. Because class is permanent.
As soon as you open that Quality Street box on Christmas Day, get looking immediately for that purple wrapper. They won’t last long.
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk separated during face-off after recording-breaking stare-down
Danny Jones
Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk managed to break a new record before the fight had even started during their face-off on Thursday as they engaged in an extremely intense stare-down– the longest in boxing history.
Fury vs Usyk 2 takes place this weekend, with both excitement and now tension around the eagerly-awaited rematch boiling over as the two fighters locked into respective thousand-yard stares as they met on stage in Riyadh ahead of their rematch.
The pre-fight press and build-up had felt a little quiet and understated up until the last couple of weeks but with the two division-conquering heavyweights now set for what looks to be a real battle and an actually believable feud, the anticipation and stakes have never felt higher.
Fury will have to wait until Saturday to get his second shot at beating the Ukrainian but it’s clear that both their heads are very much already in the ring as the pair ultimately had to be pulled apart after an extremely intense and, frankly, awkward 11-minute stare-down.
As you can see, the situation was an unprecedented one and neither Fury nor Usyk seemed willing to flinch or concede even a little bit of ground to the other, resulting in the longest face-off professional boxing has ever seen. It could have gone on longer by the looks of things…
More than 10 minutes passed before either party said a word to each other and it took various members of security, the promoters, Fury’s entourage and Usyk‘s to edge the two away from each other as the Wythenshawe-born boxer eventually appeared to lose his cool.
In addition to trading countless threats and insults as per, the Manc fighter looked visibly red-faced and began perspiring profusely as he became more mobile and agitated; in contrast, his Ukrainian counterpart barely moved an inch from the same spot.
Perhaps the most jarring aspect of the hot-blooded affair was the general pageantry and ceremonial stuff going on around them, as tonnes of Saudi locals danced, got up on tables and played music around them as the face-off came to its conclusion.
However, it was the scenes picked up by cameras as the two were finally separated that many fight fans think have proved most telling, as the 36-year-old launched into a torrent of verbal abuse and expletives after the fact. As they see it, Fury’s ‘meltdown’ shows he’s already lost the first round:
Usyk didn’t get to enjoy his unified title for very long after beating Tyson the first time around but judging by the level of composure on display, he might already have a leg up in the rematch too.
‘The Gypsy King’ has also been criticised once again for his conduct during the aftermath for homophobic, discriminatory and generally offensive remarks (something he’s come under fire for in the past) though he is yet to address the accusations and is unlikely to with just less than 24 hours before the bell rings.
Fury claims he hasn’t spoken to his wife in three months amidst his busy schedule and strict training camp rules for this fight – another comment he received some flak for online. Whether or not isolating himself has helped his chance, only time will tell.
If you happen to have free time on your hands and nothing better to do, you can watch the whole 11 minutes and change stare-off between Fury and Usyk down below. Better still, give us your predictions: who do you think is going to win this one?
Emily Sergeant -
21st January 2021 
