7-year-olds parents didnt think much of these subtle signs before horror cancer diagnosis

Claire Casbolt loves unicorns, mermaids, art and her friends.She has just turned seven and planned her biggest party yet, with face painting, ponies and a jumping castle.Sadly, her seventh birthday will likely be her last.In June, Claire’s mother Meghan Tucker noticed her sassy, sparkly schoolgirl acting clumsier than usual.She was sent to the emergency department by a concerned doctor.Hours later, Claire was diagnosed with an aggressive type of brain cancer.That was only three months ago.

But doctors have warned her family that children with this type of cancer rarely live more than eight months after a diagnosis.It started with a couple of falls.One was bad enough to end with a split lip.

But there was nothing physically different that hinted Claire had a killer tumor inside her.It wasn’t until she was eating differently at her grandparents’ house that her mom thought something might be off.“Claire started becoming a bit clumsy and awkward in her walking,” Melinda Chapman, a relative of Claire’s, says.“She was at my house for dinner, and she was chewing really awkwardly.”Claire’s mom mentioned she had been “falling over a lot” and planned to ask a GP for a referral to check Claire’s hips – thinking the clumsiness might be related to the hip dysplasia she had as a baby.Morning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.

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Never miss a story.At a check up for her cut lip on Friday, June 21, Meghan told the doctor about Claire’s altered walking and eating, which only occurred in recent days.The doctor didn’t waste any time, telling them to go straight to the emergency department of the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne.Claire was taken in for an MRI, with her mom and dad Mitchell beside her.

The next day they got the results.A brain tumo...