Kayla Buttle is one brave little five-year-old. Like most little girls her age, she loves Disney, she looks forward to Halloween each year and according to her mum, Stacey, she has a wicked sense of humour. But her life hasn't been easy.
In 2021 Kayla was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma, a type of cancer that develops in immature nerve cells around the body. Her illness has been something that has dominated her life, and the lives of her parents, Wayne and Stacey, and her older brothers Riley, 11, and Kory, nine.
"It affects everything," admits Kayla's mum. "From making basic plans like food shopping, thinking, 'Today's a good day so shall I go today because in two days' time could she be ill? Could she spike a temperature?', all these things you have to add into your life."
How Kayla's cancer diagnosis has changed family life
Stacey shares that a lot of their day-to-day life is impacted by having to ensure their environment isn't a risk to Kayla's health. "Making trips to the zoo or the beach or even just seeing family [are hard] because if they've got a cold or if they aren't well, you don't want to be around them," Stacey explains.
"If Kayla is poorly, she could end up in hospital. You're constantly having to evaluate what's best without trying to become a hermit and not leave your own home because you're too scared."
A lot of the family's life has also been consumed with hospital appointments. Initially, the intense nature of Kayla's treatment meant she and her mum had to be in the hospital for three days and home for seven every ten days. "As the world started opening up [after the Covid-19 lockdowns], she was diagnosed with cancer and we went back into being isolated again because we were petrified," Stacey bravely recalls. "We didn't understand it or how to handle it."
Stacey explains the impact Kayla's illness has had on her brothers. "It impacts them just as much. Maybe more [than an adult] because they can't verbalise their emotions," Stacey says.
Kayla suffers a relapse
Sadly, Kayla relapsed in January and her mum says this was a hard fact to share with her boys. "You break your children's hearts all over again. That's their little sister," says Stacey, explaining how Kayla is the apple of eldest brother Riley's eye.
And yet, Stacey emphasises the incredible fighting spirit of all three of her children. She says Kayla is a force to be reckoned with and it's her positivity that is getting the family through it. "Not much bothers her, she takes everything in her stride," Stacey shares. "Can she be sassy? Of course! She bosses her brothers around like nobody's business, but considering she was diagnosed just after she turned three, when it comes down to it she just does it", Stacey says, referring to Kayla's treatment.
The family has devoted a lot of time to fundraising as they are looking to pursue a new form of vaccine treatment in America that aims to prevent cancer from coming back once given the all-clear. The entire process, including flights and accommodation, would cost £185,000 so the Buttles have been working hard to fundraise with bucket collections, music events, and even a local boxing event.
Unfortunately, during a recent drug trial in Leeds, Kayla and her family were told that her cancer had got worse. The special wish that the family was granted by children's charity When You Wish Upon A Star couldn't have come at a better time.
The family's Disney dream comes true
Stacey knew her family needed a break, but when she sent in an application to When You Wish Upon A Star, she didn't think that her family would soon be going on a four-day funded trip to Disneyland Paris for Halloween. Stacey says she sent off the application form simply thinking, "Disney does Halloween, she's into Halloween, Disney princesses. Oh my god, that would be perfect" but was in shock when Kayla's wish was granted. "I was like, oh my god, really?!," Stacey remembers.
Kayla has always loved Halloween so being taken to Disneyland at this time of year is extra special for her. Stacey tells us: "Ever since she was little when it came to trick or treating, we had our own plan where we used to live up and down the road. The boys would love it and we'd spend a couple of hours out. She was just in it! Even before she could walk, she had a little bucket and she wanted to get dressed up! She just loves it."
Going to Disneyland then, at this special time, was the icing on the cake. Stacey reveals just how Halloween-centric the trip was. She says: "One of the parades was Halloween, [the characters] all dressed up in their Halloween costumes. There were pumpkins everywhere. There were ghosts everywhere.
"There was Halloween-themed food," Stacey continues. "Very autumny, fake plants were autumny colours. The characters, when you met them, were dressed up like Goofy was in a skeleton costume…There were kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes, dressed as princesses, it was just lovely."
Stacey says the opportunity that When You Wish Upon a Star granted her family was just what they needed. The charity pays for flights, transport, hotel, and half-board for families like Kayla's so they can go and just have fun. "It was absolutely amazing. What did we do? What didn't we do!," Stacey says. "We went on rides, we ate popcorn, we ate lots of food, we saw characters, we saw princesses, we watched the parades, we played with bubbles. We were very tired!." The inspirational mother says they even got soaked in the rain while in France. "Did it put a dampener on it?", she says. "No!"
The highlight of their trip was the amazing opportunity for a character dining experience, Stacey shares. "[The characters] were just wandering around. Seeing these characters coming to each table, they're just being silly. If they bump into each other, they chase each other around the restaurant!".
Reflecting on their escape from reality
Having fun meant everything to Kayla. Upon their return home, Stacey tells us: "She said to me the other day, 'Can we go back?' And I said, 'We've just got home' and she went, 'But I need to do some rides and see my friends' – meaning the characters she had loved meeting."
Kayla and her family didn't just have fun on the trip, Stacey says it was a much-needed chance to completely switch off and allow her children to just "be kids". "It was lovely just to escape reality. Disney is just a magical place. You somehow get swept up in the magic of it all. And you weren't thinking of what was coming up next, you weren't thinking of your next hospital appointment," she says.
The trip was also an opportunity for Riley and Kory to relax and enjoy themselves. "They have a hard time too," Stacey says, "as much as a lot of people focus on Kayla's needs, Kayla's wants, and what affects her, it affects the boys too. So just to see them laughing and not having a care in the world and just being kids it's just lovely to see."
What is important to Stacey is that her family has these special memories to treasure forever. The mum-of-three says, "They can look back at when they were 11 and nine and be like, 'We went to Disney'."
"Hopefully we'll have many more times to do things like that", Stacey continues. "But we're not guaranteed Christmas, we're not guaranteed her birthday, we're not guaranteed the next year. Now she has got worse, we're not guaranteed anything. That's the harsh reality of the life we live."
Forever grateful for When You Wish Upon a Star
Stacey will always be grateful for what When You Wish Upon a Star has offered her family. "These children deserve the world. They deserve more than life itself. Without these charities, these kids wouldn't be getting these wishes," the mother-of-three says.
"They wouldn't be making these memories and it's so important for each and every child that has gone through more than any adult could ever imagine in such a short space of time to have something that they could hold onto which was magical."
The family has previously been on two treat days through the charity. "We went to Fantasy Island up in Skegness and oh my god, the kids had an amazing day!"," Stacey remembers. "And we went to Alton Towers. Seeing your kids laugh means the world. And having this big trip, we'll never forget the fact that that was such a massive memory that they've allowed us to create and we are so so thankful for it."
Kayla is a little girl whom we can all learn from. "She's an inspiration," her mother says. "She's really what's got us through this horrible nightmare purely just because of her whole attitude.
"I don't let the cancer control her, as much as it controls our life, Stacey continues. "I want her to be the best person she can be and not let this define her."
When You Wish Upon a Star has a simple mission – to grant the Wishes of children living with a life-threatening illness. The wishes have the power to transform the lives of the children and families they work with and since 1990 we have proudly granted over 18000 wishes across the UK.
The charity grants wishes throughout the year (from meeting celebrity heroes to sports outings to Disney trips) as well as running the annual Lapland visit which happens each December.
2023 is the 30th annual trip the charity will be undertaking, chartering two planes of Wish children and their families to meet Santa and spend a day making magical memories.