Five-year-old Ballincollig girl remains "funny and happy" in face of cancer diagnosis

DONATIONS and messages of support have been flooding in for a five-year-old girl from Ballincollig who recently received a cancer diagnosis.

Emma Molnar’s mother, Renata, noticed the little girl’s elbow was swollen when she arrived home from school on March 16 .

“Her arm was very sore. She couldn’t straighten it,” Renata recalled.

Emma was brought to Cork University Hospital (CUH) on St Patrick’s Day and an X-ray flagged cause for concern. After MRI and CT scans, Emma’s parents, Renata and Balazs, were told their youngest daughter had a form of cancer.

The CT scan showed that Emma had a tumour on her right adrenal gland. It also showed that she had some cancer spots in her bone marrow.

Doctors at CUH liaised with counterparts in Children’s Health Ireland in Crumlin, where Emma was sent the following day for further tests and a biopsy to determine the type of cancer. Two days later, the Molnar family were informed that Emma had neuroblastoma, a cancer that develops from immature nerve cells found in several areas of the body, and most commonly impacts children aged five or younger.

Emma will receive treatment for the next 18 months, including every 10 days until June 10.

On June 20, Emma will undergo surgery to remove the tumour, followed by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and blood transfusions.

Despite the testing circumstances, Renata said her daughter remains a “funny and very happy girl”, who continues to make her parents and her two sisters, Hanna and Bella, laugh.

Emma will celebrate her sixth birthday on May 22, and hopes to have a rainbow-themed party to mark the occasion.

Upon hearing the news of Emma’s diagnosis, neighbours of the Molnar family came together to help, and established a GoFundMe page to raise funds for Emma and her family. The Molnar family were originally reluctant to set up a fundraiser but were swayed by the outpouring of support for Emma.

So far, more than €11,000 has been raised to “keep Emma smiling through treatment”. 

See ‘Lets keep Emma smiling through treatment’ on gofundme.com to donate.