The family of two young sisters who were both diagnosed with cancer say they felt "absolute numbness" at the news and asked medical staff to "double check" there had not been a mistake.

Odette was three when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 2022 and has since undergone 15 surgeries.

After returning from hospital to her home in Hinckley, Leicestershire, life for the family seemed to be returning to a new normal - but in 2024 her younger sister Eliza was diagnosed with leukaemia.

For parents Tom and Sophie there was a feeling of disbelief at Eliza's diagnosis.

"We were asking them to double check. 'Are you sure because that seems a bit unfair'," Tom said.

They have since undergone genetic testing to try to establish if there is a reason why both girls have been diagnosed with cancer.

"We thought that there must be some kind of link," Tom said. "We went through all the genome testing and everything else. It doesn't look like it from what we can tell."

Sophie said: "They said it just unfortunately looked like really bad luck.

"I don't really know how to feel about that because half of you wants that reason really that both of your children have gone through this, but then the other half is relieved that, OK, well there isn't anything.

"It's a conflict of emotions really."

The parents had sought out medical advice for Odette after noticing "concerning symptoms".

"We took her to the GP a couple of times who advised us to go for an eye test", Sophie said.

"Unfortunately, that eye test found that she had a swollen optic nerve, some swelling at the back of the eye and we were told to go to A&E.

"Unfortunately, that showed a large mass on her cerebellum at the back of her head."

Odette went through more than a dozen surgeries and spent nearly eight months in hospital.

She is now having yearly scans to monitor her health.

When Eliza became ill, the couple thought she was "fighting off an infection" having been poorly.

Tom said: "We noticed that she had maybe some blue lips and she was a bit pale when we were taking her swimming.

"We thought she was cold or fighting off an infection - but then she showed some weakness on one side.

"So, we called 111 and they sent us to A&E - then it turned out that she had leukaemia."

Her treatment is due to finish in spring 2027 after two and a half years.

Tom said Odette, now seven, was the "more responsible" child while Eliza, who is six, was "a bit more of a firecracker".

Sophie said sometimes hear her two daughters comparing treatments.

"It's been sort of sweet yet horrifying that they've both had similar things, so like the NG (nasogastric) tube and they've both had Hickman lines for their medications and Odette's like 'wow, I remember when I had that'," she said.

"It's sort of so sad, but lovely at the same time, because you've got that sisterly sort of support and familiarity, I suppose.

"It's definitely not the parenting journey that I think we expected and hoped for, but you just take it one day at a time and the girls are amazing.

"They get us through it, and they keep us strong and they don't moan - kids don't, they just get on with it and so that boosts you up.

"It gives you cause to get out of bed every day and just carry on because they do."

The When You Wish Upon a Star charity, which grants wishes to children living with a life-threatening illness, took the girls on a day-trip to Lapland in 2025.

The sisters travelled on a "specially chartered aircraft for a day filled with Christmas magic and memories", said the charity's chief executive Joe Williamson.

"It has been an absolute privilege for When You Wish Upon a Star to get to know the family and to play a small part in the journey of two very special girls, Odette and Eliza", he added.

"Their family has been through more than most of us could ever imagine."

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