Myla's legacy
“She is the most loving little girl. She would help absolutely anyone. Energetic, always on the go. Everyone who met her fell in love with her. That’s the kind of person she was, and I’m so proud of her.”
That’s how mum Chantelle describes her daughter Myla, who, in August 2025, was suddenly diagnosed with a rare brain tumour, Diffuse Midline Glioma, at nine years old. After a brave six months, Myla sadly passed away on 15th January 2026; since then, her family have been carrying on her legacy and raising awareness in her name.
Myla’s family first encountered the hospice that August, through a referral regarding support for Myla’s brother, Charlie. After learning about Myla’s story, the hospice extended their support to the entire family. Chantelle said: “The hospice didn't just help Myla or Charlie, they helped us all as a family.
“They gave us so much support. They helped us get Myla home, then we had home visits. Myla also used to come to the hospice and use the bath because they’ve got a hoist; we used to light up the room and put Ella Henderson on. Then it was stuff like letting her be here when the Red Arrows were in. They've helped us a lot and they used to travel out to Sheffield and Leeds. We can't thank the hospice enough.”
Zak, Myla’s dad, added: “You know about the hospice, but you don't really know about the hospice. We’ve just had to find out, in the hardest way, what they really do and just how much they do.”
Days before Myla’s tenth birthday on 11th January, the hospice assisted a special trip to The Deep in Hull, as Myla had “a wish of seeing the penguins” – the first day out their family had managed to go on since the initial diagnosis in August.
“It was amazing, it meant so much to us that day.” Chantelle said. “Her favourite penguin is Kyla, and they've all got different colour wristbands on. We were looking for Kyla, and she was the one that was swimming right by the window next to Myla. I'm just so glad we got there because for Christmas, she got a projector as she couldn't sit and watch TV, she was always having to look up at the ceiling. So, we got her a projector, and we'd have the coral reef on – it was so relaxing, she loved it.”
Unfortunately, shortly after, Myla passed away. To ensure her family and friends had the opportunity to spend additional time with her and say goodbye in a peaceful setting, she was able to rest in the hospice’s Butterfly Suite for a week afterwards, surrounded by her loved ones.
Chantelle said: “I’d never heard of the Butterfly Suite before, so when we were told about it, obviously we jumped at the chance because we just wanted every second we could get with Myla.
“It was so nice because you got checked in on every day. Myla got checked in on every day. I was able to help give Myla a final getting ready, which was hard, but you've got that support there. We did lots of memory making. We've got some gorgeous memory boxes, hand casts, baubles.”
Zak continued: “People here, you feel like it's not just their job, they genuinely do care. They're actually willing to help us. Doing the memory bits, it really does mean a lot. The hand cast, the baubles, the handprints - just any memories, they were willing to do anything for us.
“Even when we had a hard day, and we had both babies, they would take the babies to the sensory room for us. I mean, just little things like that so we could spend time with Myla.”
During their final days together, Chantelle promised Myla to “share her story and let everyone know how brave she was, because she was so incredibly brave”. Since then, her family have been doing exactly that, setting up a Facebook page, ‘Together for Myla’, and holding multiple events to raise awareness about Diffuse Midline Glioma and fundraise for the hospitals and charities who supported them.
The page has already gained a large amount of attention, which her family said is because “she was a very, very loved little girl. She always will be, and everyone’s got her back”.