THE mother of a young schoolgirl with cancer feared her daughter had died just weeks before she was due to celebrate her ninth birthday.
Brave Katerina Tawn, who has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, suffered a series of seizures last month.
Mum Lia, 35, frantically tried to resuscitate her daughter at their Thurgoland home following the first fit, while dad Duncan dialled for an ambulance.
"Her leg started shaking and I thought 'that's not right' and she started fitting, frothing at the mouth and going purple," said Lia, of Copster Close.
"I screamed at my husband 'call an ambulance', and the way I screamed he thought she had died and, at the time, I thought she had died."
Katerina, who was diagnosed last August, suffered a second fit in the ambulance and further episodes once she arrived at Sheffield Children's Hospital on June 5.
The class four pupil at Thurgoland Primary School was due to celebrate her birthday with a party the following week and Lia was worried her daughter would not make it.
"We were just praying she would be well enough for the party because she was looking forward to it so much.
"You daren't plan anything in case anything goes wrong but you have to make plans to carry on life as normally as possible for Katerina."
Katerina recovered to make the 'do' at Thurgoland Village Hall and, rather than receive presents, she asked for the money, a total of £600, to be donated to the CLIC Sargent charity and Briony's Gift.
