A MUM has described how her worst nightmare came true after her five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a rare cancer.

Esmee Whiteside is to travel to America for three months of treatment after doctors discovered a tumour behind her eye.

Doctors said the youngster's condition is a rare soft tissue sarcoma which affects around 60 children a year in the UK.

Mum Emma Whiteside described her heartbreak after watching her daughter scream at the sky 'God. Why did this happen to me?'.

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The 27-year-old mum-of-three from Darwen said: "It is heartbreaking and mind-altering and all I can do is pray and hope that she will beat this dreadful disease."

Pupils at Esmee's school, Avondale Primary held a crazy hair day to raise money for the family, with one girl managing to raise £600.

Emma and dad Westley Whittaker, 24, initially thought Esmee had a stye in her eye and said she was given antibiotics.

After it continued to grow they were told it was non-cancerous and she was booked in for an operation at Manchester Eye Hospital.

However doctors told them they feared it was malignant and the family's worst nightmare was confirmed following further tests.

Emma, a support worker who has given up her job to care for her daughter full-time, said: "She's lost all her hair and is being fed through a nasogastric tube but she is still smiling every step of the way.

"As a mum I can honestly say I burst with pride every time I look at her.

"She still fusses over her two brothers and she is still full of personality."

The family will travel to America in the next few weeks for proton beam therapy, a treatment not available in the UK, at a hospital in Oklahoma.

After that there will be more months of chemotherapy and blood transfusions.

"All this and not one doctor can tell me she will be okay. Not one doctor can say if she will live to see her next birthday," Emma said.

"America is one step. We are nowhere near done. It is one step in the right direction. There is no quick cure.

"I do not know what is going to happen, that's the worst thing.

"When she is in America it is three months of being put to sleep every day. As soon as we get off the plane we are going straight to the hospital.

"She is in constant pain. The cupboard is full of medicine. She has to have an injection every day and is fed through a tube. I want to do it myself so there are not constantly nurses and doctors in the house.

"After a session of chemotherapy she is in a wheelchair. She looks like a ghost."

Emma said the family tried to keep positive and keep Esmee positive.

She added: "I have to make sure every day she lives her life to the full. I do not know what is waiting around the corner for her."

Avondale School held a crazy hair day yesterday to raise money for the family and to show support for Esmee.

The school's family liaison officer Cheryl Braysford said it was the last opportunity for Esmee to come into class before she goes to America.

She said: "She has got a wig and we wanted her to come in and feel like everybody else so we asked the children to come in wigs and bright colours."

Emily Kelly, nine, who raised £600 on her own through a sponsored dance and collections, said: "I am doing it because we are best friends. I am going to raise £1,000."

The money will help bring Esmee's brothers Bobby-Lee, seven, and Spencer, 19 months, over to America as well as for living expenses.

Emma said: "The school has been great. Every day they ask if there is anything they can do.

"It is amazing. It really lifts her spirits and she needs the support of her friends.

"It is hard. She asks me questions about if she is dying. Having her friends around her really helps."

The family has named the tumour 'Trudy the Intruder' and have had T-shirts printed with the slogan 'let's kick Trudy's ass'.

Her mum said: "She is the kindest kid I have met in my life. She always shares her sweets. She smiles and laughs.

"People see her when she is out and smiling. I watch her screaming in pain and and asking me why it is happening. That is really challenging.

"It is awful. She screams at the sky. 'Why God. Why did this happen to me?'."

To donate visit https://www.gofundme.com/xqvmu-kicktrudysass.