'My shock at becoming a mum after teenage cancer treatment'
BBCA mum who was told as a teenager she would not be able to have children has spoken of her "pure joy" when found out she was pregnant.
Leah Cullen was diagnosed with tailbone cancer when she was 13, but after surgery and radiotherapy doctors said she would be unable to carry a child.
The 25-year-old was left with chronic pain and is unable to leave the house without the use of a wheelchair, however in 2024, after experiencing bladder pain, a scan showed she was 30-weeks pregnant with her daughter Aria.
Leah, from Blyth, Northumberland, said: "I was in shock, the nurse said 'you didn't tell me you were pregnant', I said, 'I didn't know I was pregnant!"
Becoming a spokesperson for charity Children with Cancer UK, Leah hopes her story will help other young people living with the disease.
She said: "Life after cancer is tough, I struggled a lot with my mental health and at times you do feel 'why me?'
"Even at 13 I knew I wanted to have children, so to be told I couldn't was incredibly difficult and it stayed with me.
"Finding out I was pregnant was pure joy."
'Talk more'
However, pregnancy presented challenges as Leah takes daily painkillers to cope with her chronic pain, and stopping meant she went the rest of her term without the medication.
"It was incredibly tough, I was worried about how the drugs might affect her and at times I physically couldn't move from the pain," she said.
Aria was born in December 2024 healthy and without any side effects from the prescription medication.
SuppliedStatistics from the charity show everyday 10 children will receive a cancer diagnosis.
Out of the 10 diagnosed two will not survive, but of the eight that do, over half will face long-term and life-limiting side effects.
Chief executive Gavin Maggs said: "We have to share stories like Leah's which can help young people through their cancer journeys.
"We know that children can be left suffering with their mental health after cancer but it's important that they know they still have a life to lead."
Leah, who in December celebrated Aria's first birthday, believes young people with cancer need to "talk more" about the disease.
"I still face challenges with my pain, cancer changes a person, you may think this is not the life I imagined growing up but it is a life and we've got to be so thankful.
"If someone had told me I'd be here with a one-year-old, I would have said that was impossible. Yet here I am, in the best place I've ever been.
"Things really can get better - not just in small ways, but in ways you never imagined."
