Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Moray mum whose daughter beat aggressive cancer backs controversial Coronation Street plot

Gail Paterson, with Eileidh in the garden at their home in Forres. Picture by Gordon Lennox
Gail Paterson, with Eileidh in the garden at their home in Forres. Picture by Gordon Lennox

A Moray mum whose toddler fought an aggressive cancer has backed a controversial soap plot about an infant facing the disease.

Gail Paterson’s three-year-old daughter Eileidh was diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma last year, and though she is now clear of the illness she still has to endure intensive hospital treatments.

This week, Coronation Street launched an emotional plotline in which Fiz Brown discovered her five-year-old daughter has the same form of childhood cancer.

Some viewers have criticised the hard-hitting scenes as being in poor taste, and have vowed not to watch.

But Ms Paterson, who lives in Forres, believes the storyline could save lives by raising awareness of how the cancer affects youngsters.

Ms Paterson said: “Maybe if a TV show such as Coronation Street had broadcast a storyline like this last year I would have known what neuroblastoma was and how to spot the signs in Eileidh.

“It’s a big “what if”, but maybe she wouldn’t have had to go through so much if we’d noticed it before it spread.”

“It’s going to be extremely difficult for me to watch these scenes, and I had a lump in my throat when the diagnosis was made, but awareness is so important.

“As a nation we need to be more aware of how to recognise the signs of childhood cancer and this could save a lot of lives.”

A Coronation Street spokeswoman thanked Ms Paterson for her support.

She said: “As a soap we aim to portray stories that affect the lives of ordinary people every day and this one is no different.

“Cancer is sadly something that touches many families.

“Having decided to cover a subject matter like this we worked very hard to ensure it was done accurately and sensitively.

“It is important for us to have the support of parents like Ms Paterson and we are grateful for her comments.”

Little Eileidh was diagnosed with high risk neuroblastoma last May.

After months of rigorous procedures to rid her of the disease, the toddler was given the all-clear this June.

But four out of five youngsters who conquer the condition suffer a relapse.

With this in mind, Ms Paterson launched a fundraising crusade to enable Eileidh to participate in a groundbreaking American drugs trial designed to lower that risk.

People from all over the north-east rallied behind the cause and amassed £100,000 so that Eiliedh could take part in the scheme.