Mia Lloyd
Hi my name is Mia and I am 11 years old. I live in Tremain, Ceredigion with my mum, dad, Sam, my brother, Lili, my sister and Cadi the dog! Back in May of 2017 I was diagnosed with a rare type of bone cancer called Osteosarcoma. The primary tumour was in my left femur. After my diagnosis I felt shocked and, for the first time in my life, I was speechless! I felt very emotional at the beginning – I was angry but mostly just scared of what was going to happen to me.
I’m so lucky to have received Chemotherapy treatment at the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital in Cardiff. All the Consultants, Doctors and Nurses are very kind and helpful. Rainbow Ward became my second home where we were one big family!
Each member of staff was on hand to explain all the procedures that were going to take place and this made me feel at ease and confident – they all cared for me empathetically and sensitively. The Play Specialists on the ward always made time to spend with each and every patient at some period during the day – this was comforting and certainly a way of taking my mind off the treatment. The treatment was tough! I lost my long hair within weeks of beginning my treatment. I was terribly sick and the mouth sores were awful. My parents kept on telling me that I was very brave and that they were extremely proud of me. I didn’t see it as being brave, I just wanted to get better and I want to continue to make them proud!
In the middle of treatment I had to have surgery. I opted for an above knee amputation and this surgery took place in the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital in Birmingham. I feel it was the best option for me because I really want to return to sports such as golf, athletics and climbing as soon as possible. I really enjoy the challenge of learning to walk on my new prosthetic leg and the golf course is a great place to learn – the fairways and greens are full of slopes and undulations which help me perfect my balance and gait. Golf also gets me outdoors in all conditions and is a chance to meet up with friends and family.
I met Mike Jones of Wales Golf recently at a charity fundraiser at Cardigan Golf Club and he was very inspirational – I hope to one day be able to inspire others (as he did me) within disability sports.
