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Eight-year-old Melody Brown had a cancerous tumour "the size of an orange" removed by two teams of surgeons from Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Having been diagnosed with a rare form of sarcoma at such a young age, Melody had the tumour successfully removed on 30 September last year.

Melody's Mum, Charlene Brown, told us about when Melody first became unwell: "She was struggling a little with her breathing, which we thought had something to do with her asthma.

However, over time she also struggled to swallow, and her breathing became worse, so we rushed her to our local A&E."

Within 24 hours of entering Royal Stoke University Hospital, Melody was intubated and put into an induced coma.

Following a CT scan, she was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital to receive care within its specialist Cancer Service.

Charlene explained: "It all happened so quickly from when we first took her to A&E, we were in shock. When found out it was cancer, our hearts just sank. Melody's tumour was around the size of an orange so she was in a really critical condition. It was an incredibly hard time.”

Melody was in intensive care for several weeks and then moved to the hospital's Oncology ward to receive chemotherapy.

Charlene said: "Unfortunately, the chemotherapy wasn't effective on Melody's type of tumour, so our only option left was surgery, which meant removing Melody's voice box. We were really worried about the surgery and what it would mean for Melody, but our consultants explained everything that needed to be done and we knew that it was the best option for her."

Melody's procedure, called a total laryngopharyngectomy and thyroidectomy, was led by Mr Neil Sharma, Head and Neck Surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) alongside Ms Kate Stephenson and Mr Michael Kuo, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) / Head and Neck Surgeons at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Ms Stephenson explained: "It's unprecedented for a child of Melody's age to undergo this type of procedure. In fact, as far as we know, this situation has never presented itself in a child this young before."

We needed to not only remove the tumour which involved Melody's voice box and thyroid gland but also to perform a complete reconstruction of her upper food pipe. We needed experts from QEHB to help us carry out this highly specialised procedure."

Mr Sat Parmar, Mr Prav Praveen, Mr Jag Jagajeevan and Mr Tim Martin, Consultant Maxillofacial Surgeons at the QE, and the ENT Surgery Team came together to plan and perform the unique six-hour surgery. Melody’s lower throat and food pipe was reconstructed using a tube created by a flap of tissue transferred from her thigh.

The surgery went well and Melody is recovering and adjusting to life post-surgery.

Charlene shared: "It was really hard for Melody to begin with. Losing her hair and then being faced with losing her voice box. She also needed a feeding tube for a while so she couldn't eat. She was really down and it was really hard as her Mum to watch her go through it all."

"However, since her surgery she can now eat all the things she loves again and she has come on leaps and bounds. She is already making progress with life without a voice box and learning to communicate in different ways.

Melody’s care has involved exceptional team working and training. She will continue to receive support from several key professionals including Aisha Hamzah, ENT Nurse Specialist, and Nicola Holt, WellChild Tracheostomy Nurse Specialist at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, alongside speech and language therapy under the guidance of Prof. Camilla Dawson, Consultant Speech and Language Therapist at the QE.

She is receiving communication rehabilitation, learning techniques such as oesophageal speech or using an electrolarynx, a machine that produces vibrations to create voice sounds.

Charlene added: "Melody has a long road of recovery ahead of her and will be closely monitored by the teams but she has already overcome so many hurdles. She has been so brave and we are all so proud of her."

"I just want to say thank you much to the teams at Birmingham Children's Hospital and the surgeons there and at QEHB. The support from the doctors and nurses on the wards has been amazing. I don't know how we would have coped without them. We are all just so grateful."