A three-year-old Orangeville girl is fighting for her life in a Scottish hospital. While vacationing with her mother and two brothers, Kathryn Wymant was diagnosed with brain cancer last month. Doctors say she’s too ill to come home.
The local girl suffers from a high-grade glioma and is currently receiving treatment at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow. She’s undergoing both radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
“Katy’s doing amazingly well,” says Tracey Kohout, a neighbour and close friend of the Wymants. “(Her mother) says ... she’ll come out of the recovery room and she’s skipping down the hallway.”
The family couldn’t be reached for comment at press time.
Kohout says Margot Wymant took her daughter to see a doctor after noticing the little girl began to stagger when she walked and one of her eyes moved slower than the other.
“Unfortunately this tumour is not amenable for surgery and Kathryn’s long-term prognosis is poor,” consultant oncologist Dr. M. Ronghe said in a letter describing the girl’s condition. “She will need to be monitored closely and will need parental support.”
Following the diagnosis Kathryn’s father, Laurence Wymant, flew to Scotland to be with the rest of the family. Kohout says Laurence didn’t accompany his family on the vacation because he had just started a new job.
The family is currently staying in Margot’s sister’s two-bedroom apartment in Glasgow. Kathryn is undergoing six weeks of treatment — her last one is set for Sept. 22 — but it’s unclear when she can return home.
“They’ll do another scan after she’s had her six weeks ... of treatment,” Kohout says, noting they won’t know how well the treatment is working until then. “They’ll scan it to see if (the treatments) have shrunk it down or done anything to it.”
Being so far away, neither parent is earning an income and they’re “financially strapped,” Kohout says. Both have taken an unpaid leave of absence from their work.
“In addition to the risk of losing our daughter, without any income or assistance from the government, we will lose our home and cars and personal property in Orangeville,” Laurence Wymant wrote in a letter to MP David Tilson, looking for help and/or advice.
Tilson couldn’t be reached for comment at press time, but a representative in his office said he can’t speak publicly about any specific situation.
“It’s compounded one thing after the other,” Kohout says of the family. “It just seems that everything they try, they run into a roadblock.
“The bills here don’t go away.”
The medical bills are being taken care of by the British government, Kohout says, because Margot Wymant was born in Scotland.
“As you can imagine, it’s a devastating thing. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare to discover your child has an inoperable brain tumour,” says Lori Bryan, Margot’s boss at The Little Country Preschool in Primrose and another close friend.
“They’re just going one day at a time,” she adds, suggesting the family’s financial concerns are “a whole other stress to [what] they’re already enduring.”
When Bryan learned of Kathryn’s situation, she began a morning ritual with the children attending her summer day camp. Each morning they light the “Katy candle” and pray for her recovery.
“We’re sending prayers and positive thoughts,” she says.
A trust fund has been set up at the Bank of Montreal to help assist the Wymant family. To make a donation, Kohout says Margot Wymant took her daughter to see a doctor after noticing the little girl began to stagger when she walked and one of her eyes moved slower than the other.
“Unfortunately this tumour is not amenable for surgery and Kathryn’s long-term prognosis is poor,” consultant oncologist Dr. M. Ronghe said in a letter describing the girl’s condition. “She will need to be monitored closely and will need parental support.”
Following the diagnosis Kathryn’s father, Laurence Wymant, flew to Scotland to be with the rest of the family. Kohout says Laurence didn’t accompany his family on the vacation because he had just started a new job.
The family is currently staying in Margot’s sister’s two-bedroom apartment in Glasgow. Kathryn is undergoing six weeks of treatment — her last one is set for Sept. 22 — but it’s unclear when she can return home.
“They’ll do another scan after she’s had her six weeks ... of treatment,” Kohout says, noting they won’t know how well the treatment is working until then. “They’ll scan it to see if (the treatments) have shrunk it down or done anything to it.”
Being so far away, neither parent is earning an income and they’re “financially strapped,” Kohout says. Both have taken an unpaid leave of absence from their work.
“In addition to the risk of losing our daughter, without any income or assistance from the government, we will lose our home and cars and personal property in Orangeville,” Laurence Wymant wrote in a letter to MP David Tilson, looking for help and/or advice.
Tilson couldn’t be reached for comment at press time, but a representative in his office said he can’t speak publicly about any specific situation.
“It’s compounded one thing after the other,” Kohout says of the family. “It just seems that everything they try, they run into a roadblock.
“The bills here don’t go away.”
The medical bills are being taken care of by the British government, Kohout says, because Margot Wymant was born in Scotland.
“As you can imagine, it’s a devastating thing. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare to discover your child has an inoperable brain tumour,” says Lori Bryan, Margot’s boss at The Little Country Preschool in Primrose and another close friend.
“They’re just going one day at a time,” she adds, suggesting the family’s financial concerns are “a whole other stress to [what] they’re already enduring.”
When Bryan learned of Kathryn’s situation, she began a morning ritual with the children attending her summer day camp. Each morning they light the “Katy candle” and pray for her recovery.
“We’re sending prayers and positive thoughts,” she says.
Friends have set up a bank account in Kathryn Wymant’s name to assist the family. Donations can be sent to P.O. Box 12, Orangeville, Ontario, L9W 2Z5.
For more information, contact Tracey Kohout at 519-941-6042.