‘She’s a great wee fighter’: Ballinamore mum tells of five-year-old Chloe’s leukaemia journey

Three weeks into junior infants, five-year-old Chloe Moran should have been settling into school, making new friends and getting used to a whole new little world. Instead, within days, she was in hospital beginning treatment for leukaemia. For her mother Joanne, the speed at which their ordinary family life changed is still difficult to comprehend.

It began with something that seemed completely innocent. Chloe had started junior infants in Ballinamore in September 2025 and, like many children adjusting to their first weeks of school, she was coming home tired in the evenings. “We sort of just put that down to her being tired from starting school,” Joanne recalled.

Then one Monday evening, Chloe complained that her leg was sore. Joanne checked her leg and foot but couldn't see anything that would explain the pain. Chloe went to school the following day, but when Joanne arrived to collect her, it was clear something wasn't right.

“She was crying that her leg was sore.” Later that evening, Joanne and Chloe's father Barry noticed one or two tiny red spots on her foot.

They didn't immediately think the worst. Barry was off work the following day and decided to bring Chloe to their local doctor in Ballinamore to get her checked. The doctor was unsure what was causing the symptoms and referred Chloe to Cavan General Hospital.

Joanne went on to work while Barry took their daughter to Cavan. Within hours, everything changed. Doctors became concerned when they saw the small red spots appearing on Chloe's leg. Initially, they feared she may have sepsis and began carrying out tests.

Blood results soon showed that something was seriously wrong. Barry phoned Joanne at around midday and she left work and travelled to Cavan to be with them. By approximately 1.30pm, Joanne and Barry were sitting in the hospital being told doctors were 99 per cent certain their four-year-old daughter had leukaemia.

“They were 99% sure it was leukaemia just from the bloods,” Joanne said. Only hours earlier, Chloe had been a little girl with a sore leg. Now her parents were facing a diagnosis no mother or father expects to hear. Further tests were sent to Children's Health Ireland at Crumlin for confirmation and, at around 9pm that night, the results came back.

Chloe had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL). What followed happened at a dizzying pace.

There was no bed available in Crumlin that night, so Chloe remained in Cavan before travelling to Dublin the following day. By Friday, she was in theatre having a Hickman line inserted into her chest. The line would allow doctors to administer chemotherapy and take blood without Chloe having to endure needles every time.

On Saturday, just days after first complaining about her sore leg, she received her first chemotherapy. “It all happened very quickly,” Joanne said.

The first year of school Chloe had barely begun was suddenly gone. She had completed just three weeks of junior infants when her parents made the decision to take her out of school while she underwent treatment. Joanne also took a year off work to care for her daughter. For Chloe, childhood became filled with journeys to hospital, blood tests and chemotherapy.

Yet Joanne says her daughter has faced it all with a resilience that continues to amaze the family. Now five, Chloe remains on chemotherapy and is expected to continue treatment until October 2027. Thankfully, the news since those frightening first days has been positive.

Joanne said Chloe has responded extremely well to treatment and there have been no cancer cells detected in her blood since November or December last year.

“Crumlin is very, very happy,” she said. “We just have to keep going with the chemo until October next year, just so that it's totally gone and that it never comes back, hopefully.”

Perhaps most remarkably, Chloe has remained in good form throughout much of her treatment. “Chemo doesn't really make her sick, thankfully,” Joanne said. “She's in good form after it.” For her parents, seeing Chloe cope so well has made an unimaginably difficult year that little bit easier. “She's a great wee fighter and she's very stubborn and determined,” Joanne said.

“She just gets on with it, thankfully.” Chloe was only four when she was diagnosed and has already dealt with more than most children could begin to understand. Chemotherapy caused her to lose all of her hair, but even that became something Chloe managed to take in her stride. “It actually didn't even faze her,” Joanne said. “She thought it was so funny that her hair fell out. “If it had happened to one of her older sisters, they'd probably have been more self-conscious and it would have been harder. She's definitely coped well, thankfully.”

Chloe is one of four children and has had plenty of support at home from her older sisters Emma, nine, and Leah, seven, and her younger brother Ollie, two. Now, almost a year after the family was plunged into a world of hospitals and chemotherapy, something wonderfully ordinary is on the horizon.

Chloe is going back to school. This September, she will begin junior infants again, getting another chance at the school year that was taken from her almost as soon as it began. “She had only done three weeks of junior infants when she got sick,” Joanne said. For a family whose lives have revolved around treatment for the past year, her return to the classroom represents another important step forward.

And they haven't been making that journey alone. In July, the Ballinamore community came together for a special fundraising day for Chloe and her family at the Scouts Den. The event on July 25 grew far beyond anything Joanne had imagined. “It's been amazing so far,” she said. “We didn't expect it to turn out as big as it was. “And Chloe had a great day at the actual fundraiser, which was lovely for her.”

An accompanying iDonate appeal, which began with a target of just €1,000, has now raised more than €48,000. People donated online, while businesses throughout Ballinamore provided prizes for the raffle and supported the fundraiser.

Joanne said the family has been overwhelmed by the generosity shown to them and paid special tribute to Nadia, coordinator of the Ballinamore Mum2Mum group, who came up with the idea for the fundraiser and helped organise the hugely successful day.

“We just want to thank everyone who came and made the day so enjoyable, everyone who donated online and the businesses in the town who gave prizes too,” Joanne said. Chloe will continue chemotherapy for more than another year, with treatment expected to finish in October 2027. But after the shock of that September day, there are now milestones to look towards rather than simply hospital appointments.

There is Chloe's return to junior infants this September. There are days at home with Emma, Leah and Ollie. And, further down the road, there is one moment her family is waiting for more than any other. The day Chloe finishes treatment and finally gets to ring the bell.

For the determined little girl who found losing her hair funny and has taken chemotherapy in her stride, it will mark the end of a journey that began with nothing more alarming than a sore leg. “She’s a great wee fighter,” Joanne said. “And she’s very stubborn and determined.” To support Chloe and her family or make a donation, visit www.idonate.ie/crowdfunder/Fundraiserforchloe