Her Australian surgeon Dr Charlie Teo described young Milli as courageous. Photo / Facebook
Her Australian surgeon Dr Charlie Teo described young Milli as courageous. Photo / Facebook
A brave Australian girl who recently had radical surgery to remove the majority of a brain tumour has flown to Germany to again undergo radical treatments to hopefully improve her condition.
Amelia "Milli" Lucas, 12, from Perth, has flown to Bochum in western Germany to undergo brain surgery to removethe remaining 2 per cent of a malignant tumour in her brain, according to the Daily Mail.
She will also undergo four weeks of alternative treatments offered in the European country including chemotherapy and hyperthermia treatments.
Dr Charlie Teo took Milli on as a patient after other doctors refused to operate on her tumour, deeming it "too risky".
Milli's family raised the money to pay for the surgery through crowd-funding, with Australians, touched by the family's story, donating more than A$160,000.
Teo was able to remove 98 per cent of the tumour during the surgery at the start of June, calling it one of the more difficult surgeries he'd encountered throughout his career.
"It went into the brain stem, the no-go zone where most people don't operate", Teo explained. He then referred little Milli's case on to the specialists in Europe.
Milli will travel to Germany for the radical surgery. Photo / Facebook
Milli's mother, Monica Smirk, wrote on Facebook that the family would be leaving this weekend for Milli to begin the next phase of her treatment.
"We have some exciting news," Smirk wrote. "Milli starts her treatment in Germany on Monday. Flying out this weekend."
Smirk last week shared that she had received her own devastating blow, being rediagnosed with breast cancer.
She had previously been diagnosed with the disease three years ago, and at the time had a double mastectomy and a hysterectomy.
Smirk, Milli and other members of their family suffer from Li-Fraumeni syndrome, an extremely rare genetic disposition that puts the sufferer at a lifelong risk of a wide range of cancers.
The devastating disease is believed to affect fewer than 1000 people around the world.
Smirk told the West Australian newspaper that she felt guilty about the possibility of having passed on the syndrome to her children.
"They're such good kids They don't deserve this."
Milli Lucas poses with the match coin during the round 13 AFL match between the Fremantle Dockers and the Port Adelaide Power. Photo / Getty
