Toddler undergoes major surgery after doctors initially thought nausea and limp was Covid

A toddler who started suffering from a limp and felt nauseous which doctors initially believed was due to Covid-19 was actually a brain tumour.

Little Lola, from Sherburn-in-Elmet, Yorkshire, was diagnosed with a pilocytic astrocytoma on February 17 this year at just two years old. She had been experiencing a range of symptoms such as a limp and head tilt which caused her speech to decline, YorkshireLive reports.

Mum Jessica Hunt, 26, said Lola also began "acting very confused", sleeping often and suffering from vomiting episodes. Jessica said: "We’d been told numerous times this was a result of having had Covid-19 but as a mum, instincts suggested there was something more serious underlying."

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One night after Lola began fitting and vomiting, Jessica and her partner Luke sought urgent help. X-rays and blood tests all came back clear until doctors did an MRI and found the tumour on the left stem of her brain which had grown to 5cm.

"They discovered the tumour, which they believed had been there since birth," said Jessica. "Our hearts were shattered."

Lola was immediately rushed from York to Leeds General Infirmary, where neurosurgeons assessed whether they could operate. They were initially unsure, as the tumour sat on the part of the brain which controls breathing, which may have made removing it too risky. Eventually, they decided there was no other option.

Jessica said: "Although the risks were life-changing, operating massively outweighed the option of leaving the tumour where it was as Lola was deteriorating before our very eyes."

Lola was closely monitored over the weekend before on the Monday, just three days