My Little Girl Captured A Prince's Heart

Sarah Cross’s daughter was given a devastating diagnosis. But now, she’s defied the odds – and she’s rubbing shoulders with royalty…

- Kristina Beanland

My daughter, Erin, talks a mile a minute, is happiest covered in glue and glitter, and is obsessed with Britain’s Got Talent. You might think she’s an ordinary seven-year-old – but you’d be wrong. This month, she attended a glitzy award ceremony with Prince Harry – and even calls him a friend. Surprised? not me. The truth is, after her brave battle with leukaemia, I know my daughter is extra special… 

It was December 2009 when my husband, Antony, and I gazed in disbelief at the pregnancy test. After eight years of fertility treatment and IVF, we were going to be parents.

From the moment Erin was born in August 2010, she had us charmed. From giggling at The Little Mermaid as a baby to jumping in muddy puddles as a toddler, she was so full of life.

But when Erin was two she developed a cough that wouldn’t go away. Every time I took her to the GP, they said there was nothing to worry about. But a month later, I noticed Erin’s breathing seemed odd and her skin turned so pale, she was almost grey. Terrified, we rushed her to hospital.

There, doctors stabilised Erin before running tests. That evening, a consultant came to see us. ‘I’m so sorry, he said. ‘Erin has leukaemia.’

The shock was instant, but doctors couldn’t tell us more until they’d done more tests. That night all I could think about was losing my little girl.