THE parents of a little girl battling an incurable illness have told supporters that she was admitted to hospital - but they are more determined than ever to fight for her to access pioneering treatment.

On Wednesday, Eva Williams was admitted to Wrexham Maelor after displaying "worrying signs" at her family's Marford home.

It was likely due to the tumour in the nine-year-old's brain that was discovered at the start of the year and she was taken to Alder Hey in Liverpool for a scan.

Parents Paul and Carran Slapa say they feel like they have been taken back to the moment the Rofft Primary pupil was first diagnosed with the tumour at the start of 2020.

But they are hopeful that Eva will still be able accepted on to a trial for treatment, possibly in Germany, that will extend her quality of life.

Paul said: "On Wednesday evening, we took Eva into the children’s ward at Wrexham Maelor hospital as she was displaying some worrying signs at home. She couldn’t control her eye movement properly, which was one of the main symptoms she had pre-diagnosis back in December. Eva was able to move her eyes when following a finger or an object, but she couldn’t move them across naturally on her own.

"The hospital did various checks on her eyes, vitals and reactions etc... and basically told us that they were unable to understand what was happening. We expected that a scan would be required, however they advised us to go home, and they would liaise with Alder Hey the following morning.

"So, on Thursday, we called Alder Hey early on and they advised that Eva’s oncologist, Dr Hayden, wanted her to come in for a scan. We took her there late morning and they booked her in for an MRI later in the day. It’s really horrible as a parent, as there is currently only one parent allowed on site with the child, so I had to sit in the car park whilst Carran went in, and then we swapped over so that I could sit in with Eva during the scan. I know that it is for safety purposes, but when you are in that situation and you are worried about your child’s health, it just feels wrong to stop parents from being there to comfort them!

"After Eva’s scan, Dr Hayden reviewed the images and agreed for both of us to come in and go through the results, and it was the worst possible discussion. Eva’s tumour, although it is roughly the same size, has shown some progression to the rear of it, and this is almost certainly the cause of the restrictive eye movements. For so long, we had held on to hope that Eva may be one of five per cent of misdiagnosed cases, and that was the reason her response to radiotherapy had been so good, however this is now almost certainly not the case.

"There isn’t much a doctor can say at this point as they only provide the facts, but Dr Hayden re-emphasised that he is supporting us with accessing a trial. We have found a doctor in Germany who may be able to prescribe us the ONC201 medication, and if that is the case (we are in contact and hoping to hear early next week) then we will aim to get Eva on to that, whilst we await access to a trial.

Eva was diagnosed with an incurable high-grade diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) at the start of 2020 and has undergone an intensive and gruelling course of radiotherapy.

Her parents launched a fundraising campaign to send Eva to America for pioneering treatment to extend her quality of life.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic hampering local fundraising efforts, the initial target of £250,000 was reached and exceeded in a matter of weeks.

Paul said he and Carran are still hopeful that Eva will be able to receive treatment to extend her life and appeal to people to continue with the fundraising efforts that have now raised more than £275,000 that will be vital when Eva is accepted on to a trial.

He added: "At this point, there isn’t much else to say – the past 48 hours have brought us both back to that conversation on 1st January, and we have taken a massive hit to our positivity. That said, we are more determined than ever to get Eva on to the trials/medication as soon as possible, and that needs to happen in the next week or two.

"Thank you to all of you for your amazing ongoing support and please, continue to share and fund raise where you can. Carran and I aren’t ready to accept any other prospect other than getting Eva life-extending and ultimately one day, life-saving treatment."

Support Eva at https://www.gofundme.com/f/unbeatable-eva