Five-year-old Bonnie Spence has been given less than a year to live after doctors initially mistook a sign of her rare cancer for a ‘broken arm’.

“Not in our wildest nightmares would we have thought we’d be in this position,” her dad Iain, 41, said.

The little girl from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, experienced severe pain because of a growing lump on her arm.

Initially, her mum Zoe, 30, thought it might have been a fracture.

Doctors in the area agreed, suggesting it could be a sprain and sending the little girl home with her arm in a sling.

However, Bonnie’s arm continued to swell, leaving her in increasing discomfort.

Two months later, following several hospital appointments in Lancashire, mum Zoe decided to drive her daughter three-and-a-half hours to Newcastle, near her father’s home.

“Bonnie was struggling so much with the pain,” Iain said.

They decided to take her to the Royal Victoria Hospital, where Iain said doctors quickly became concerned that she had a tumour.

Bonnie was diagnosed with stage four rhabdoid sarcoma in February, a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer.

According to doctors, the pressure in Bonnie’s arm had become so severe that it caused compartment syndrome, a condition in which pressure inside a muscle restricts blood flow and causes significant pain.

Just five days after her diagnosis, her parents faced the heartbreaking decision to allow doctors to amputate their little girl’s left arm.

Now doctors estimate that the five-year-old may have less than a year to live, as the cancer has spread to her lungs.

Zoe said: “In the space of nine weeks, it went from a suspected broken arm to an advanced cancer diagnosis with only a year given.

“This news absolutely shattered my whole world.

“She’s receiving chemotherapy to prolong her life, but we have been told it may stop working around the 28-week mark, and there may be no other treatment options left.”

The mother of five now faces expensive three-and-a-half-hour journeys to visit her daughter.

Bonnie remains with her father in Newcastle, although the family is navigating a difficult arrangement that allows her to receive the care and support she needs.

HGV driver dad Iain and NHS midwife stepmum Caroline are both taking time away from work to spend precious time with Bonnie.

Iain receives just £118.75 per week in statutory sick pay, while Caroline’s occupational sick pay runs out in October. This means they could face the difficult decision of returning to work while Bonnie is still at home.

Iain said: “It’s not the most ideal situation with her mother being over there – she’s never been away from her mum.

“Everyone understands that unfortunately this is the best way to manage things right now.

“Her mum’s trying to get over as much as she can, and we’re trying to do the best we can for her as well.”

‘Just a lump on the arm’

Stepmum Caroline, 32, said: “She’s having to pay for caravan parks and Airbnbs to stay in, and because of Bonnie’s needs, the accommodation has to be suitable for a wheelchair and for someone with the use of only one arm.

“That increases the cost of the Airbnbs available to her.”

Iain added that he hopes Bonnie’s story will raise awareness of rhabdoid sarcoma and help other families recognise unusual symptoms.

He said: “It just presented as a lump on the arm.”