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2006 June 5 - 21st birthday celebrations for woman who fought cancer and life-threatening liver dama

A woman who was diagnosed with liver damage as a child after being treated for cancer is looking forward to celebrating the 21st birthday her family thought she might never see.

Emma Chorley from Broadgreen will be celebrating the special milestone on 18th June along with her family and close friends before setting off on a family holiday to Paris a week later. 

Emma, who lives with mum Sheila, dad Thomas and siblings Claire and Scott, was diagnosed with Wilms tumour, a cancerous tumour on the kidney, when she was just two years old.  This required the removal of her right kidney and chemotherapy.

Emma seemed to be recovering well but in 1993 when she was seven years old she was rushed to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital after vomiting blood.  Emma’s parents had been concerned over recent months about her loss of appetite and tiredness and  an endoscopy at the hospital showed that Emma’s liver had been damaged by the chemotherapy five years before. 

This liver damage resulted in portal hypertension; an increased pressure in the portal vein.  Emma also had oesophageal varices, where blood tries to find a another way back to the heart, new blood vessels open up and these dilated veins (called varices) protrude into the gullet and stomach and bleed.  Sometimes there can be a major bleed and the person can haemorrhage, causing them to either vomit blood or pass blood through the bowels.

Emma says, “My family’s world had already been turned upside down once when I was diagnosed with cancer, so to be told I was seriously ill with liver damage was devastating for them. I know they were shocked by the severity of the bleeds I suffered and it affected our whole family life over the years to come.”

Since she was diagnosed Emma has suffered multiple bleeds, had over 35 endoscopies to help prevent bleeding (this involves what is known as sclerotherapy  where a special chemical material is injected into the veins of the gullet) and has also undergone numerous other procedures and scares – including a large aneruism on her spleen when she was 19.  However, although day to day symptoms still include tiredness, nausea, indigestion, dizziness and vomiting which are compounded if Emma exerts herself too much, Emma has continued to be positive and is determined to live as fuller life as possible.

She studies English and Creative Technology at Liverpool John Moores University on a part time basis and also works four hours a week at Liverpool football club, of which she is an avid supporter.  She loves looking after her four year old godson and her greatest ambition is to one day visit New York, adding, “With regards to my career I will just have to wait to see what I am physically able to do in the future, ideally I would like to write for newspaper or magazine.” 

Since her diagnosis, Emma and her family have received practical and emotional support from Children’s Liver Disease Foundation (CLDF), the only organisation in the UK dedicated to fighting childhood liver disease.  Emma is now keen to help raise awareness that children can be affected by liver disease and of the vital work carried out by the charity.

Emma explains, “I have been able to deal with the difficulties of living with liver disease as I have had a wonderful family around me who always kept me smiling. They were able to give me this unconditional support as they had CLDF to support them.  CLDF provided much needed information and advice at a time when my family felt very alone and it is still great to know that we can pick up the phone and speak to someone who understands. In addition to their family support programme, the charity also funds vital research and as there are over 100 liver diseases which affect children it is so important that this is able to continue with the hope of one day finding a cure.”

Catherine Arkley, chief executive of Children’s Liver Disease Foundation adds, "When a family receives a diagnosis of childhood liver disease CLDF is here to help pick up the pieces and with at least two children diagnosed with a liver disease every day in the UK, the need for our services is great.  We continue to offer support to young people and their families as they become adults, with the unique problems this can present.  Emma and her family have been through so much and it is great to see how she has embraced life, whatever the challenges.  We’d like to wish Emma a very happy 21st birthday.”

For further information on the work of the Foundation, please visit www.childliverdisease.org or call 0121 212 3839 for a fundraising and information pack.
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Note to editors:

For further information please contact Rachel Markham, Children’s Liver Disease Foundation, Tel: 0121 212 6012, e-mail: communications@childliverdisease.org

The Children’s Liver Disease Foundation is a unique national charity that fights childhood liver diseases through funding pioneering research and educating healthcare professionals and the general public. Formed in 1980, it provides professional, emotional support to families affected and is the only organisation of its kind in the UK.

Childhood liver disease – the facts
• More children in the UK are currently diagnosed with a liver disease than childhood leukaemia
• At least two children are diagnosed with a liver disease every day in the UK
• Most childhood liver diseases are life threatening; all mean a lifetime of care
• There are over 100 different liver diseases that can affect babies, children or young people
• For most childhood liver diseases the cause is unknown
• Liver disease has no cure
• CLDF is the only organisation in the UK dedicated to stamping out childhood liver disease