A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl battling a brain tumour, who was at the centre of a fundraising campaign to help her walk again, has died suddenly.
Eva Tomney, from Keady in south Armagh, will be buried tomorrow three years after being diagnosed with a rare tumour that spread to her spine.
Earlier this year her parents, Kellie and Paddy, launched a campaign to raise £15,000 for specialist equipment to aid her mobility after she was confined to a wheelchair and had almost reached their target.
Described as a bright, bubbly baby. Eva was about to start playschool aged four when she started to complain of a sore neck and was losing her balance.
Eva went through a gruelling 12-hour operation to remove the tumour and endured a further nine months of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and two stem cell transplants.
The former Clea primary school pupil was declared cancer-free and initially responded well and was able to walk, but within three months her little body began to slow down.
Doctors said that high levels of toxicity from the drug treatment had led to the complications.
Her family had described her as determined and said she desperately wanted to walk again so she could play with her brother Paddy, who was just a year older.
Little Eva passed away suddenly on Saturday. Her remains will leave her grandparent’s home at 24, Fairgreen Estate on Wednesday to arrive at Newry Christian Centre (8 Upper Edward Street, Newry) for prayers.
Funeral Mass will take place in St Patrick's Church, Keady at 1pm.
