Brain tumour girl couldn’t see or walk... now she’s doing cartwheels

Cartwheels: Indigo McGregor at home in south London
Sophie Goodchild28 November 2017

The parents of a girl who had a tumour the size of a tennis ball removed from her brain have told of her remarkable recovery.

Following the life-saving surgery at Great Ormond Street hospital, Indigo McGregor was left blind and had to use a wheelchair because she could not walk properly.

But after three years of follow-up treatment including physiotherapy and eye operations the eight-year-old from south London can now see again as well as run, dance and even do cartwheels.

To say “thank you” to hospital staff who cared for her, Indigo and her parents, Kirsty, 41, and Robbie, 45, will join thousands of others taking part in the London Santa Dash on Clapham Common on Sunday.

Participants dress as Santa Claus for the event, which is in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

Kirsty said: “We feel like we’ve won the lottery. Her prognosis was so poor but she can even ski and do gymnastics — we had no idea that we would get this far.

“She was like a baby again after surgery and couldn’t even turn her head. But Indigo is so tenacious, her young brain has bypassed the damage by creating new pathways.

“It may take her longer [to do things] but children don’t mind failing. She even does cartwheels in our front room.” Surgeons had to operate on Indigo because the tumour was pressing against her brain stem which could have been fatal.

At the time of the procedure she was five and her family were living in Sri Lanka. They had to endure a 20-hour flight back to London, accompanied by two medical teams to care for Indigo.

She was then taken by ambulance from Biggin Hill airport to Great Ormond Street.

The surgery took more than 10 hours and was carried out in two operating theatres on the same day, in a race against time to save her life.

Normally the operations would have been carried out a few days apart.

When she came round Indigo was completely blind. As she gradually regained her sight she was left with an extreme squint which meant she had double vision.

Her family feared that she would never recover her sight fully or be able to run around again like other children.

Doctors carried out surgery to try to correct the problem and at Christmas last year Kirsty noticed that Indigo’s eyes were looking normal.

At an appointment in January doctors confirmed that her squint was correcting itself.

Kirsty, who works as a civil servant, said: “We’re so lucky to have the NHS and Great Ormond Street. Indigo really is an absolute miracle.”

MORE ABOUT