Brave teen Kira Noble to return to US after new cancer discovery

Joking with her close friends in the school corridor and laughing about the mystifying world of algebra, Kira seems like any other teenager.
Kira Noble, a pupil at Firhill High School, is heading back to the US for treatment.Kira Noble, a pupil at Firhill High School, is heading back to the US for treatment.
Kira Noble, a pupil at Firhill High School, is heading back to the US for treatment.

But, dubbed lovingly and accurately “Kira the machine”, the Firhill High pupil is about to have her life turned upside down again.

The disease she so defyingly fought in May has progressed.

Follow-up tests from an intensive seven-hour operation to remove a tumour showed a lesion on a lymph node outside the pancreas is the same aggressive cancer, Neuroblastoma.

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However, negativity is not in the Noble family dictionary and despite the prospect of more tests, more treatment and another long haul flight, they are facing the future with gusto.

Experts have identified the best treatment for Kira is Proton Beam Therapy, not available in the UK.

It comes with a price tag of approximately $77,000 coupled with the cost of flights, accommodation and daily living added in.

But thanks to Evening News readers and the wider community, the family don’t need to worry about the financial burden of the journey to come.

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Mum Aud said: “The wonderful news for us is that Kira’s treatment fund at Solving Kid’s Cancer currently has £275,000 banked for our use due to the immense generosity of family, friends and indeed strangers who have worked tirelessly to drive fundraising forward to put us in this privileged position and we can’t thank everyone enough for their help.

“To be able to select the best possible treatment for Kira, whilst not having the added pressure of raising funds, is incredible. Thank you is not a big enough word to begin to describe the magnitude of our gratitude to everyone for their huge efforts. The thought of what people have done for us makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

“We feel so supported, we feel we’ve got Kira’s army behind us. They’re so encouraging and positive.”

For Kira, the last three months has had a flavour of the normality of life as a 15-year-old. Hanging out with friends, juggling school work with parties, she never fails to smile.

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Her wicked sense of humour and easy going manner belie the trauma cancer has dragged her through, physically and mentally.

And when her friends discussed their hobbies such as swimming, hockey and judo, Kira paused and smiled, answering “hospital” with a giggle.

But she is frank about the reality of the next stage of her journey. She shrugged and added: “What choice do I have?”

Friend Freya McCathie, 15, commented on the unfairness of the situation. “We’ll miss her. We’ve only just got her back and now she has to go away again,” she added.

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Local Green cllr Gavin Corbett said: “It’s always been recognised that the road ahead for Kira is a long and, at times, bumpy one. She and her family are such beacons of optimism that I am confident they will take this next round of treatment in their stride, especially knowing that the overwhelming generosity of supporters, friends and neighbours continues to be available.

“Best of luck to her.”