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09th Sep 2021

Tributes paid to Offaly teenager who passed away after short battle with brain tumour

Ellen Fitzpatrick

May she rest in peace.

Tributes are pouring in for a young teenager who passed away in her mother’s arms after suffering from a brain tumour.

Alanna Lenehan from Rhode in Co. Offaly died after only being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

As she is set to be laid to rest tomorrow, tributes have been pouring in from friends and family.

After a Facebook page called “Alanna’s Journey to Recovery” was set up, the comments have been filled with tributes and fond memories of the popular 16-year-old.

One person wrote: “I’m so sorry for your loss. A beautiful angel flying high rest in peace Alanna, my thoughts and prayers with you all.”

Another added: “So sad to hear about Alanna, rest in peace pretty angel, thinking of you Lael, Keith and Santiago and all her family and friends. She was taken way too soon.”

Some took directly to their own Facebook, with one friend saying: “Rest Easy Angel. It has been such an honour to know you and watch you grow into such a gorgeous and strong young woman.

“You have taught me so much more than you could ever imagine. That cheeky little pearly white smile will live on forever in our hearts darling.”

In April of this year, Alanna arrived home from school feeling sick and began vomiting, before she collapsed to the floor and had a seizure.

She was then airlifted to Temple Street Children’s Hospital and her family were told that she would need a craniotomy.

With the majority of the tumour removed, Alanna began 30 radiotherapy treatments to try and get rid of the remaining tumour.

An emergency shunt was put in and as Alanna finished her treatment, she got seriously ill again by week three and was admitted to St. John’s Ward in Crumlin.

Alanna then had another seizure three weeks later and was put in ICU in Temple Street. A full-body MRI was then carried out and doctors saw that the cancer had spread throughout her spine.