Ottilie Rushby's parents were bemused when they noticed a small lump on her head10:14, 10 Jul 2026Updated 10:15, 10 Jul 2026A one-year-old girl was given a nightmare diagnosis after a tiny lump on her head - which her parents initially dismissed as a bruise from playing - turned out to be a life-threatening tumour. Little Ottilie Rushby was taken to the GP after her mum and dad spotted a mark on her head which they'd first put down to her tumbling over while playing at home.‌However, when the bruise showed no signs of fading after a fortnight, parents James and Sophie decided to seek medical advice, and their doctor referred them for a CT scan that very day. The pair were then left utterly "shattered" after the toddler was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma - a rare childhood cancer - which had already spread from her liver to her skull and spine.‌The uncommon condition, which strikes 83 children in the UK annually, develops in a child's nerve tissue, and only 30 to 50 per cent of cases survive. The main warning sign is a lump which can be detected under a child's skin.‌Now their "sassy", "happy", and "beautiful" girl faces an exhausting 18 months of treatment including chemotherapy, surgery, blood transfusions, stem cell transplant, radiotherapy and immunotherapy. The family are also attempting to raise £300,000 for future and potentially life-saving treatment and an experimental vaccine in the USA.Dad James, 41, a tennis teacher from Hilton, Derbyshire, said: "It was really crazy, Ottilie had no pain or symptoms of the cancer. The only thing that we noticed is that she had a slight lump on her head near her temple.", reports Birmingham Live.‌"We just assumed it was a bruise and didn't think anything of it. After two weeks it wasn't going down like we thought it would. Nobody has seen her fall, so we were stumped. Because it didn't start to go down, Sophie phoned the doctors on May 8."We're pleased that we did this, he didn't know what it was but referred us for a CT scan the same day in Derby. Within 20 mins of the scan, we could tell something was wrong. The staff pulled us into a private room and asked to wait for a consultant."They told us it's not good news at all. She's got a tumour in her head. They blue-lighted her to Nottingham Queens Medical and get her on the ward and go from there.‌"It was world-shattering to hear she had a tumour. We couldn't speak or think about it for the first week without crying, we're both broken and shattered. What's hard is that she was and still is playing normally, she's like a normal little girl."Ottilie has since had surgery on her head, undergone numerous tests and begun chemotherapy. Dad-of-two James added: "We had a week of horrendous tests, she had five general aesthetics in a week. An MRI Monday, then she had surgery to her head on the Tuesday, bone marrow tests on Wednesday - it was all quite a lot.‌"We picked up that the tumour in her head isn't a brain tumour, it started in the kidney. It spread through her bone marrow through to her spine and up to her head. It's probably the worst bit of news we could ever imagine."We continued all of these tests this first week. She's on a really long journey of chemo. This type of cancer, they really hit it hard as it's a fast growing cancer. They started emergency chemo the following week. We're only a 70 day chemotherapy plan. There's seven lots of treatment in 70 days."There's a 30-50 per cent chance the treatment has worked. She has the initial 70 day treatment, then she has a lot more following this."‌While there's a possibility the toddler's UK treatment could prove successful, her parents insist she desperately needs a vaccine in the US that could prevent the cancer from coming back. According to Neuroblastoma UK, high-risk neuroblastoma carries a 50 per cent relapse risk.The couple have already raised more than £50,000 as they plan to travel to the US once Ottilie completes her current treatment. The Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center in New York provides the only paediatric bivalent cancer vaccine for high-risk neuroblastoma.‌The vaccine targets two proteins (GD2L and GD3L) present on neuroblastoma cells and is delivered through a series of subcutaneous injections. James added: "The treatment she's receiving at the moment is treatment she can receive anywhere in the world."It's exactly what she needs right now. The vaccine in America is to stop relapse. In an ideal world the chemotherapy will shrink every bit of cancer she has. Lets say it goes well, neuroblastoma has an over 50 per cent chance of relapse.‌"The survival rate drops to 20 per cent if she does. So the plan is to go to America and get this vaccine. We want to get over there and start the vaccine treatment. It's a course of many weeks and consists of many injections."It's quite a costly program. There have been quite a few other families have been in touch for this. A family who has done this told us we need to fundraise for £300,000. This is only trialled in America in a place in New York.Article continues below"It's quite early stages but we've had so much support. We've got 10 or 12 fundraising ideas in the pipeline. We think nearly 2,000 people have donated various amounts, which is just incredible."I think we've cried enough to fill a lifetime. It's hard to put into words how hard it is for her and how well she's done. It's relentless but we hope this will make a difference."Those wishing to donate can do so here.