For the first time in a long while, Marcelinka’s parents were finally able to share something other than fear and heartbreak. After months filled with hospital corridors, emergency surgeries, and sleepless nights, a fragile sense of calm entered their lives.
“Our Marcelinka is still fighting,” they wrote, “but the last few months have been a little kinder and calmer.”
The lump doctors discovered in her intestines — a finding that instantly reignited every parent’s worst nightmare — turned out not to be cancer. Marcelinka underwent surgery to remove it, and for now, everything is stable. It was a moment of relief they desperately needed, a rare pause in a battle that has defined their daughter’s young life.
But even in this calmer chapter, fear never truly disappears.
Although the intestinal crisis has settled for now, Marcelinka’s parents know they are living with a ticking time bomb. Her condition can worsen at any moment. Stability, in their world, does not mean safety — it simply means time. Time to breathe. Time to heal. Time to prepare for what may come next.
Today, the oncological situation remains stable, but the greatest challenge has shifted to something just as daunting: preserving Marcelinka’s ability to move. Her spine and legs require constant care, intensive daily rehabilitation, and specialized orthotics. Without them, she struggles to move independently. Every day is filled with exercises — not play — all aimed at keeping her body from giving up.
Marcelinka is under the constant supervision of a long list of specialists. Recently, a urologist was added to that list. Another MRI is scheduled for March, bringing with it the familiar anxiety that accompanies every scan. Yet through it all, Marcelinka continues to surprise everyone around her. She is gaining weight. She is growing. She is managing life with a stoma. And, most importantly, she smiles — wide, genuine smiles that remind her parents why they keep fighting.
“She’s a true warrior,” they say. And anyone who has followed her journey knows those words are not an exaggeration.
Just weeks earlier, that fragile calm was shattered again.
In November 2024, Marcelinka was rushed into another emergency bowel surgery. Adhesions from previous operations had caused painful lumps, twisting her intestines and leading to a dangerous obstruction. What was meant to be a brief escape from hospital life — even a long-awaited family vacation — ended abruptly under bright operating room lights.
Doctors made it clear: surgery was not a permanent solution. It was only buying time. Marcelinka would likely need several more operations in the future.
After surgery, she woke in pain so severe that she required high doses of morphine every day. Her gait worsened as well — weeks without orthotics meant her body had to readjust once again, painfully and slowly. The only small comfort was one piece of good news: her spinal curvature had not progressed. The exhausting, daily rehabilitation was working.
But it comes at a staggering cost.
Marcelinka’s monthly treatment and rehabilitation expenses reach nearly 30,000 złoty. Medications, therapies, equipment, dressings — the list never ends. For her parents, this burden is overwhelming. They have had no choice but to organize large fundraising campaigns, knowing that without help, their daughter’s condition would be far worse.
This has been their reality for years.
What began as a routine checkup turned into a nightmare when an ultrasound revealed a massive pelvic tumor. Marcelinka was just thirteen months old when doctors discovered a 10-centimeter teratoma extending into her spinal canal. Within moments, her life — and her family’s — shifted from normalcy to oncology wards.
Chemotherapy followed. Then surgery. The tumor was malignant and resistant. Though much of it was removed in a high-risk operation, part of it remained embedded in her spine. Complications came one after another. Recovery was long, painful, and incomplete.
Today, Marcelinka lives with paralysis in one leg, low muscle tone, neurogenic bowel disease, and daily medical routines most adults would struggle to endure. Her childhood is measured in procedures, not milestones. And yet, she keeps going.
Her parents continue to fight — for her health, her mobility, her future. They know the road ahead is still uncertain and filled with challenges. But they also know they are not alone.
“Thank you for everything,” they write again and again. “Without you, Marcelinka would be in much worse shape.”
This story is not just about illness.
It is about endurance.
About a child who keeps smiling despite pain.
And about a community whose support turns fear into hope, one day at a time.
Marcelinka’s battle is far from over. But today, she is still here. Still fighting. Still smiling.
And for her family, that is everything.
Adeline Davidson’s Race Against Time as Family Pleads for Lifesaving Donor
At just three years old, Adeline Davidson should be learning new words, chasing toys across the floor, and growing up alongside her younger siblings. Instead, her life has become a desperate race against time — one that depends entirely on whether a stranger somewhere is willing to step forward and save her.
Adeline has been battling a rare blood cancer called myelodysplasia since February 2019. It is so uncommon that it affects only around one in 250,000 children. The disease attacks the bone marrow, slowly robbing the body of its ability to produce healthy blood cells. Without a bone marrow transplant, doctors warn that Adeline’s condition could transform into acute myeloid leukaemia, an aggressive cancer her small body would not survive.
For Adeline and her family, this is not a distant risk. It is a daily reality.
“Even a cold could mean Adeline could die,” says her mum, Steph, 26. “That’s how fragile she is. It’s terrifying.”
The little girl, from Inverness, lives under constant threat of infection. Ordinary childhood illnesses — the kind most parents barely worry about — could be fatal for her. Every cough, every fever, every change in her behaviour sends waves of fear through her family.
Recently, that fear became overwhelming.
Adeline was rushed to the Royal Hospital for Children in Glasgow after doctors suspected she may be developing sepsis — a life-threatening response to infection. Under normal circumstances, Steph, Adeline’s dad Jordan, 28, and their one-year-old twins, Jude and Josie, would make the journey together. But COVID restrictions meant Steph had to travel alone with her sick daughter, leaving the rest of her family behind.
“It’s so hard doing it on your own,” Steph says. “But you do it because you have no choice.”
What makes Adeline’s situation even more heartbreaking is that hope had once been in reach.
She had a potential bone marrow match on the donor register — the person who could give her the transplant she desperately needs. But devastatingly, that final match is no longer able to donate.
With that news, Adeline’s chances narrowed dramatically.
“When I got the phone call, I thought they were giving us a date for the transplant,” Steph says. “Instead, they told us the match was gone. It was absolutely devastating. This sets us back massively.”
Doctors had previously told the family that Adeline would not be able to wait longer than a year for a transplant. Now, with no suitable donor lined up, time feels more precious than ever.
“This really is life or death,” Steph says. “There’s no exaggeration in that.”
Desperate and running out of options, Steph turned to social media with a plea no parent should ever have to make.
“We can’t beg or plead enough,” she wrote. “Please sign up to become a stem cell or bone marrow donor.”
Behind those words is a mother watching her child grow weaker while knowing that the cure exists — it just hasn’t reached them yet.
Bone marrow and stem cell donation is often misunderstood. Many people assume it is painful or risky, when in reality most donations involve a simple blood-like procedure. For Adeline, the right donor could mean a future — birthdays, school days, and a chance to grow up alongside her siblings.
Without it, her parents are forced to live in a constant state of fear.
“You wake up every day wondering if today will be the day she gets sick,” Steph says. “You don’t sleep properly. You don’t relax. You’re always waiting for something to go wrong.”
Despite everything, Adeline continues to fight with the quiet courage only a child can show. Photos show her smiling beside her mum, unaware of how serious her condition is or how urgently she needs help.
Her parents hold on to hope — not because it is easy, but because it is the only thing they have left.
“There is someone out there who can save her,” Steph says. “We just need them to come forward.”
Adeline’s story is not just about illness. It is about time running out, about a family clinging to hope, and about the power one person can have to change — or save — a life.
For now, her parents wait. And they ask the world to listen.
Because somewhere, the match Adeline needs could be reading this — and choosing to give her the chance to live.