'Mila, you did it': Sister's heartfelt message as six-year-old declared cancer free

By Mila Sneddon's sister - Jodi Sneddon Mila was just four years old when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

I didn’t think that my sister's illness would be anything other than a sad, isolating place for us all.

Initial stages of treatment were hard on her little body, hard on my family, and as her big sister the most challenging time in my life.

The initial whirlwind of diagnosis was difficult to understand.

My mum was so upset, my dad was concerned and trying to take in all the facts. I was devastated and didn’t really understand how this would affect our once happy family. It crossed my mind that we could possibly lose my little sister - I just knew nothing about the disease and was trying to make sense of it.

It became clear in the first five weeks that this was not going to be easy. My sister gained a substantial amount of weight due to medication, she could hardly walk and struggled to stand.

When I would watch my mum wash her hair, I could see it coming away in her hands. When she would wake, loose hair would be all over her hospital bed and I could see it fall into her food.

This is when I felt Mila looked most poorly. It was probably the lowest moment.

She regressed into a baby-like state and needed as much care as a newborn. I tried to provide support, the easiest thing I could think I could do would just be present and just play with her. That was a place I was comfortable being.

Mila’s diagnosis had come in November 2019. Then in March 2020 the world went into lockdown.

It was almost as if the world was mirroring our situation, being indoors, protecting themselves from illness.

My dad had to keep going to work and with Mila’s treatment making her so vulnerable to infection we made a tough decision for him and I to move out from the family home. Mila stayed with my mum and we made trips to see them every day at the kitchen window. On one of the trips, my mum took a photo of us, separated by the glass.

Never did we anticipate that picture would result in our family’s story being known around the world.

That picture of Mila reaching out to my dad has become known as Shielding Mila. It has since been selected as part of a national archive in the Duchess of Cambridge‘s Hold Still book.

I’ve always believed this picture showcased the challenges of 'normal people' during such a difficult time and reminded the public of some of the additional challenges people were dealing with at such an isolating time.

It encouraged gratitude within communities, and I truly believe it played a huge part in people adhering to guidelines and rules imposed on people during a time when morale was often challenged. People would say “it could be worse" when describing their own experiences after seeing Mila’s picture.

Ant and Dec saw Mila's photo and urged people to follow the guidelines and stay at home:

The “fame” that followed was difficult for me at first. We were interviewed on different news outlets which was an environment none of us had ever known before, but it also provided us with a distraction from Mila’s ongoing treatment.

It was a way we could share our experience with the whole country. Doing something productive with Mila’s illness really had a positive impact on my own mental health coping with the situation in front of us.

Never did I think I would be sitting with my parents at Westminster Abbey sitting beside the Royal Family positively glowing at Mila’s resilience and determined nature as her little voice filled the Abbey for the Duchess of Cambridge’s Together at Christmas service which was broadcast by ITV on Christmas Eve.

Watch the moment Kate Middleton first met Mila in person wearing the five-year-old's favourite colour, pink:

All through this, though, Mila still had to endure rounds of chemotherapy, blood transfusions, lumbar punctures, and admissions to hospital. For such a young age, her positive attitude towards life really is to be admired.

I have watched her recover and witnessed first hand the lows along the way. Seeing Mila ring her bell to signify the end of treatment means more than anyone can know.

It gives me closure. It begins a new chapter in Mila’s life and ours. It’s welcomed, and yet it is tinged with elements of anxiousness as this next new phase begins for us all.

• Mila rang the bell to signify she is now cancer free

Watching Mila ring the bell made not just me but my whole family feel like we had completed a journey. I feel that ringing the bell allows Mila to be a kid again - to recover the childhood she wants to have.

Whatever happens next, I will be with her every step of the way.

Mila, you did it. I love you.