Lyla O’Donovan has faced major challenges in her life since being diagnosed with a brain tumour at the age of three.
She’s undergone 20 surgeries as well as lumbar punctures and MRIs and had countless appointments with consultants about her treatment.
Her soldier dad Paul told Army&You: “I do believe being a service child has helped her with what she’s gone through. It’s something they don’t know they’ve got.
“They have to adjust their lives all the time. You don’t realise how much of an impact that has on a child, but it also gives them so much resilience.”
So while her dad was a little anxious, it was literally a piece of cake for Lyla when she met The Queen at a private tea party at Buckingham Palace.
It was one of the highlights of the year for the inspirational 11-year-old. She featured in Army&You aged five and has since passed the £100,000 mark fundraising for charity with Lyla’s Journey.
Lyla and Tony Hudgell, nine, who was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to the prevention of child abuse, were invited to meet The Queen after they missed out on a palace garden party a few weeks before – Lyla because she was in hospital and Tony because his family’s car got stuck in traffic.
Paul, who serves with The Rifles, admitted he was more nervous than Lyla about being introduced to his regiment’s Colonel-in-Chief, but he was pleased to see her genuine interest in the children.
“She was absolutely brilliant the way she let the kids be kids,” he said. Lyla’s little brother Henry delighted in showing off his backflips and bowing to The Queen and Lyla chatted happily about her TikTok videos.
Paul said Lyla, named Inspirational Service Child of the Year by North Yorkshire Council, had met a lot of celebrities over the years, but The Queen was one of the most down to earth.
Even as the royal car waited to whisk her away from the palace for another appointment, she stayed for 20 minutes longer talking to the children.
The start of the autumn term saw Lyla, sister to Henry, Harry and Violet, learning at home because of difficulty securing SEND funding for a move up to secondary school. She needs one-to-one help at all times in case she has a seizure.
As December approached she was finally settling into Year 7 at St Francis Xavier School in Richmond.
Paul said without the school’s trust putting funding in upfront Lyla would not have been in school at all. And she missed the vital early weeks when friendships were formed, and the challenge was to keep her feeling positive.
December also brought more hospital appointments, including an MRI scan to determine how much damage the tumour and seizures had caused. The last surgery, before the garden party, took a lot out of her.
“Over the years she’s asked us and the consultants when it’s going to end and when she can be like Henry or Harry.” But he said for the most part, as far as she’s concerned, it is part of her life and she gets on with it.
Main image: Andrew Parsons/Buckingham Palace