A nice hotel and fancy cakes: A four-year-old cancer survivor's simple wish

Hazel Bass celebrated the end of her cancer treatment with a trip to Cork to fulfill her wish of staying in a nice hotel with a swimming pool and eating fancy cakes

Hazel Bass rings the bell in Crumlin hospital to mark the end of her chemotherapy treatment, watched by her proud parents Daragh and Trudi.

Once upon a time, there was a brave princess who put all her dreams on hold to fight cancer.

But on Tuesday, once princess Hazel Bass beat it and rang the bell in Our Lady's Hospital in Crumlin to mark the end of her cancer treatment, she set off on an adventure to the magical Rebel county to fulfill her first wish: to stay in a nice hotel with a swimming pool and to eat fancy cakes.

The inspirational four-and-a-half-year-old was whisked away by her parents, Trudi and Daragh, to the five-star Fota Island Resort in Cork, where hotel staff rolled out the red carpet for them.

Trudi said they hoped their story would give hope at the start of the new year to other parents of children with serious illnesses, like cancer.

“Between Covid and cancer, it’s been a long journey,” Trudi said.

“If you had seen Hazel two years ago and compared her to now, she’s a completely different child.

“Looking back, we thought we’d never get here. There were very difficult times during the treatment, which we had to do alongside the pandemic.

“But you do get there. Leukemia doesn’t last forever. 

We are now looking forward to normal life, to seeing Hazel blossom, to seeing her have the normal childhood every kid should have."

Hazel and her family were living in Cambridge, England, when she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALL) at the age of just two years and two months.

Hazel finished her treatment journey on Saturday and everything is clear.

About 98% of children with ALL go into remission within weeks after starting treatment and about 90% of those children can be cured.

But Hazel had a rare form of ALL and didn’t go into remission, which then changed the course of her treatment protocol.

Instead of undergoing a bone marrow transplant, Hazel was placed on an intense two-year regime of chemotherapy, undergoing weekly blood tests to determine her chemo dosage.

Trudi said while she and Daragh could tell how Hazel was just by looking at her, there was always a sense of dread as they waited for the results of the weekly tests.

The Covid pandemic complicated everything, and the Bass family isolated as best they could to protect an immunocompromised Hazel.

The various restrictions introduced by the NHS meant there were times when only one parent was allowed to accompany Hazel on some of the hospital visits or stays.

Last year, the family moved back to Ireland to be closer to family supports and they have settled in Delgany in Co Wicklow. Hazel’s treatment was then transferred to Crumlin under Dr Andrea Malone.

“Dr Malone and her team have just been amazing,” Trudi said.

And while Hazel had some infections and a “few other little bumps along the way”, the treatment journey finished on Saturday and everything is clear.

“We haven’t been anywhere and done anything really as a family for over two years and so when we asked Hazel what did she want to do to mark the end of her treatment, she said she wanted to stay in a fancy hotel with a pool, and have afternoon tea with her handbag," Trudi said.

Hazel's mother Trudi paid tribute to the staff at Crumlin Children's Hospital.

She booked a room in Fota and when concierge manager John Coleman heard why, he called in a few favours to make the visit extra special.

“We want to ensure that Hazel and her family have the experience of a lifetime,” he said.

Trudi said: “We’ve been through the wringer but now Hazel is just very excited about her 'holidays'. It’s nice to celebrate.

“It’s our first time in over two years that we’ve been able to go anywhere as a normal family, without having to notify any hospitals and without having to pack hospital stuff."

Now Hazel, who hopes to visit Fota Wildlife Park on Wednesday, plans to live happily ever after.