Chesterfield youngsters' fundraising for medical team which saved her life

Hannah, aged 10, who lives in Walton, Chesterfield, was taken to Sheffield Children’s Hospital after a bout of mysterious headaches and vomiting.

A CAT scan revealed that as well as a tumour, Hannah had a dangerous level of fluid building up in her brain, meaning she needed to be operated on almost immediately. She underwent an eight-hour operation to remove the tumour and made a full recovery. Doctors said she could have died just several days later if they had not come into hospital.

Now five years later, Hannah and brother Ben, aged 12, recently held a raffle at Chesterfield market when the Christmas lights were officially switched on in the town. They raised £326.

Hannah’s mum Naomi Chappell, a 45-year-old teacher, said: “I’ll never forget that day. It was a really busy night in A& E but the nurse we saw put Hannah to the top of the queue straight away.

“The doctors at Sheffield said if we had waited a week longer, Hannah probably wouldn’t still be here with us.”

She added: “There are just 19 months between Ben and Hannah so they’ve always been really close.

“Ben struggled a lot when Hannah was ill because he didn’t really understand what was happening, he could just tell it was something serious. Hannah is a really thoughtful, generous girl. She really appreciates everything the hospital has done for her so she wanted to give something back.

“Hannah and Ben were very proud of their stall. They’re definitely a double act. As soon as the market ended they were desperate to get home and count up how much they had raised.”

Hannah now has yearly check-ups at the hospital and has used sports like tennis and ice skating to help her regain her balance, which was affected by her operation.