family

Is Mise Cara (I Am Cara)

Cara Mia Mervyn was a happy-go-lucky little girl, born and raised in North Leeds. She lived with her mum Faye, dad Kieran and younger brother Finn. She loved Irish music and had "a great wee sense of humour”, obviously from her father’s Irish heritage.

Cara had been born early and experienced underlying healthcare problems for several years after undergoing tracheal surgery. She had been struggling to lie flat on her back and experienced dizzy spells, so her parents took her to see a consultant in August 2018 when she was 10 years old. It was then, following an MRI, that she was diagnosed with a brain stem tumour.

Cara’s dad Kieran said:
“It was devastating. We went from planning to go on holiday to planning to take our little girl in for a biopsy”

Her family took solace in the news that it was a low-grade tumour. However, they witnessed her becoming withdrawn and were unsure if this was the effect of the tumour. At Christmas in 2019 she became unwell with pneumonia and suffered a seizure. Cara sadly passed away on 29th December 2019 aged 11 years old.

Kieran and Faye have written a book titled ‘Is Mise Cara, I am Cara’ about their journey through Cara’s illness and their experiences after her death. They want to spread hope, raise awareness and help to fund support and research into better treatments and ultimately a cure into this devasting disease.

Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer in children and adults under the age of 40 with approximately 15 people each week diagnosed in Yorkshire alone. However limited research means that treatments have remained relatively unchanged for over 35 years.

Cara’s family hope that their book, website https://www.ismisecara.com/ and Instagram page @ismisecara will help to spread this message.

Friends of the Mervyn family are also doing their own fundraising to support YBTC in memory of Cara, who would have been 13 years old on 12th February this year.

Cardinal Heenan Catholic High School in Leeds are kindly donating to YBTC at the request of Cara’s parents.

Marie Peacock, CEO at the charity, said,
“Thank you to staff and students at the school, we are grateful for all their kindness and support. Thanks also to Cara’s family who are working tirelessly in her name to raise awareness and offer hope to families facing a similar situation in the future. We want to ensure everyone affected by a brain tumour in our region has access to the support they need.”

Jennie Castlehouse was due to run the London Marathon for YBTC in 2020, which has been postponed to 3rd October this year. Yorkshire's Brain Tumour Charity are all behind her taking on this huge challenge. She has raised over £1,130 already, which is incredible! If you would like to support her you can donate at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jennie-castlehouse3

Gemma Green at Copper Beach is also fundraising in memory of Cara, after caring for her when she was a little girl.

Thank you to everyone for your support.

The chairty have 100 copies of the book which are available to purchase on their online shop: https://www.shop.yorksbtc.org.uk/product-page/is-mise-cara-i-am-cara and will also be available to buy in their charity shop when it re-opens. The book is priced at £12.99 with £5 from every book sold donated to Yorkshire’s Brain Tumour Charity (YBTC).

If you prefer to download a kindle version of the book you can also buy the book on Amazon here https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1800491492 YBTC will receive 25% of the profit from the book sold via Amazon.