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Knights player Trent Hodkinson escorts terminally ill Hannah Rye to school formal

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A school formal is a big moment for any young woman, but for Hannah Rye it was something she could have only dreamed of.

The teenager from Mount Vincent in the Hunter, who has terminal cancer, was escorted to her Kurri Kurri High School formal by Newcastle Knights player Trent Hodkinson.

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Trent Hodkinson escorts terminally ill girl to formal

Hannah Rye, who has terminal cancer, is escorted to her Kurri Kurri High School formal by Newcastle Knights player.

The two met in 2016 when Hodkinson dedicated his kicks to Hannah as part of the "Tren7's Kick for Kids" initiative.

Hannah was diagnosed with aggressive cancer Ewing's sarcoma in 2015 when she was 13.

She underwent an intense and gruelling course of chemotherapy and had been cleared of cancer for only five months before the illness returned.

Hannah is a big Newcastle Knights fan and was very happy to walk into her formal with the well-known player on her arm.

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The school reportedly brought the formal forward so that Hannah could attend.

Soon after Hannah's diagnosis, her mother Racheal said: "Hannah started dancing this year and she started to get a sore back just before the July school holidays.

"Originally, we thought she had just pulled a muscle and there appeared to be a small knot in her back so we just started massaging it and the pain would come. But it progressively got worse."

A few months later the teenager was on a family holiday in New Zealand when she started to lose control of her legs and the pain became unbearable.

"So we came home," Racheal said.

The family's first port of call was a visit to the doctor, who recommended a session with a physiotherapist.

"The tumour had presented itself as a torn muscle that had bled into itself, so that's what we all thought it was, but the physio took one look at it and referred us on to another doctor," Racheal said.

On October 9, 2015, Hannah had her first ultrasound. Soon after, she began to lose all feeling from her hips to her knees, her toes were numb and the pain worsened yet again.

"We took her straight to the John Hunter Hospital [in Newcastle] and we were there about four hours when the doctor pulled up a chair and said he was sorry but the lump was, in fact, a tumour and they didn't know whether it was malignant or benign," Racheal said.

Two weeks later, the final diagnosis revealed Hannah had Ewing's sarcoma.

Ewing's sarcoma accounts for about 10 to 15 per cent of all primary malignant bone tumours, but is also found within the soft tissue (as in Hannah's case) and is thought to be similar microscopically.

Treatment for this aggressive cancer involves all three modalities – chemotherapy, surgery and radio­therapy.

"There was no waiting once they knew exactly what it was but, everyday, we felt like someone was blindsiding us," Racheal said.

"But now we know what we have to do and we're on a plan to attack this thing."

With Emma Swain

Newcastle Herald

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