Brightons teen returns home for postponed family Christmas following New York cancer treatment

Ashlee Easton (14) flew to New York with mum Lisa in December to undergo three rounds of a treatment programme which doctors and her loved ones hope will enable her to win her seven-year-long battle with high-risk neuroblastoma.

The Brightons resident received her third bivalent vaccine on December 29 and has been “keeping well” since.

The duo flew home at the weekend to celebrate Ashlee’s positive reaction to the treatment with dad Donald and brother Jayden.

Mum Lisa told followers of the Ashlee’s Neuroblastoma Appeal Facebook page: “Never a truer saying than ‘Home Sweet Home’.

“We are so happy to be back and all together again in our own home. Since being back we have managed to have our postponed Christmas with the kids which was really nice.

“Ashlee continues to keep well which is all we could ever wish for. Hope everyone stays safe and let’s hope we can see light at the end of the tunnel after this lockdown.”

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Christmas Day proved to be a new experience for Ashlee as she remained Stateside ahead of her final round of treatment.

To try to make the teen’s stay as comfortable and normal as possible, the St George's Society of New York arranged for a Christmas dinner – made by English restaurant Jones Wood Foundry – to be delivered to her accommodation.

Just before the close of the year, she got the green light for the third instalment of the vaccine – approval that seemed a long way off in October when Ashlee’s white blood cell count was too low for her to be allowed access to the vaccine.

In a separate message, Lisa wrote: “We will need to return for four more vaccines between now and December 2021 with the next one due early February, but these will be much shorter trips thankfully.

“Thank you so much for your messages and support this year, we feel very fortunate to have so many lovely people in our lives.”

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