Family’s shock as young sisters both diagnosed with cancer

Tom said Odette, now seven, was the “more responsible” child while Eliza, who is six, was “a bit more of a firecracker”.

Sophie said sometimes hear her two daughters comparing treatments.

“It’s been sort of sweet yet horrifying that they’ve both had similar things, so like the NG (nasogastric) tube and they’ve both had Hickman lines for their medications and Odette’s like ‘wow, I remember when I had that’,” she said.

“It’s sort of so sad, but lovely at the same time, because you’ve got that sisterly sort of support and familiarity, I suppose.

“It’s definitely not the parenting journey that I think we expected and hoped for, but you just take it one day at a time and the girls are amazing.

“They get us through it, and they keep us strong and they don’t moan – kids don’t, they just get on with it and so that boosts you up.

“It gives you cause to get out of bed every day and just carry on because they do.”

The When You Wish Upon a Star charity, which grants wishes to children living with a life-threatening illness, took the girls on a day-trip to Lapland in 2025.

The sisters travelled on a “specially chartered aircraft for a day filled with Christmas magic and memories”, said the charity’s chief executive Joe Williamson.

“It has been an absolute privilege for When You Wish Upon a Star to get to know the family and to play a small part in the journey of two very special girls, Odette and Eliza”, he added.

“Their family has been through more than most of us could ever imagine.”