This site is a tribute to Olive Gretton. She is much loved and will always be remembered. 

Olive’s life was tragically cut short due to a really rare form of cancer found in infants. We thought it was important to share Olive’s story for clarity and to raise awareness of some incredible charities.

Olive was born in the early hours of the morning of 23rd January 2023, a beautiful healthy but diddy baby.  The perfect final piece to our family puzzle, we had a wonderful 5 weeks at home.  

When Olive was 4 weeks old, we rushed to the childrens hospital, we thought Olive had bad reflux as she projectile vomited quite a few of her feeds a day. Whilst she was putting on weight, it wasn’t as much as expected.  At this point she was checked over and all looked ok, doctors thought it was reflux.  She didn’t have any MRI or CT scans at this point. 

Two weeks later Olive started to become less responsive and wouldn’t feed, and her head was swollen. On Friday 3rd March we rushed to hospital where we were seen pretty much straight away.  The nurse immediately noticed Olive’s head and was rushed to the treatment ward.  After a CT scan, doctors explained that Olive had a large build up of fluid on her brain which was being caused by a tumour blocking the fluid from draining to her body.

On the same day, Olive was taken to theatre to drain the fluid from her brain and to relieve the pressure.  The doctors were incredible and this operation went really well. Olive bounced back quickly from the anaesthetic and recovered fantastically where she was almost herself.

After the operation Olive had an MRI scan where the Neurologist showed us and explained that Olive had a really large tumour at the back of her brain which they needed to urgently remove.  At this point they thought that from their experience it was probably a cancerous tumour.

We spent a few days in the brilliant Daisy ward at the children’s hospital where we were able to be with Olive constantly even overnight.  On Tuesday 7th March Olive went into theatre to have the tumour removed which the neurologist explained was a massive procedure.

Olive was in theatre for over 14 hours, the fantastic team of surgeons doctors and nurses said that they’d managed to remove the whole tumour, with MRI scans confirming this.  Olive was then taken to the intensive care unit (PICU) where she was given fantastic care by the lovely doctors and nurses.  We were given accommodation at CLIC house near the hospital by Young Lives vs Cancer which meant we could be near Olive which was great.

The tumour was sent off for testing straight away to understand what it exactly was.  A few days after the surgery it became apparent that Olive wasn’t recovering as we’d hoped and prayed.  Whilst she was responsive, her eyes didn’t focus and she was supported by a ventilator.

When the tests came back, Doctors explained Olive had ATRT - a cancerous, fast growing and really rare cancerous tumour.  They explained, whilst neurologists had removed the tumour, the cells were still there and it would likely grow back, even within weeks.  Olive was too little and young for radiotherapy and chemotherapy would’ve been far too damaging to her and may not have worked because she was so small.

On Monday 20th March we were taken to the lovely Charlton Farm Hospice run by Children’s Hospice South West, where again we were supported by the incredible staff that run the service.  We stayed here until the Friday and were able to spend time here and see Olive whenever we wanted.  Olive passed away peacefully here. We cannot express enough how amazing this charity is. 

Olive was the most beautiful, precious little girl.  She was loved, truly truly loved.  By cousins who loved to cuddle, kiss and tickle her. By her big brother who would always try to cuddle her, kiss her goodnight and look for her every morning. By aunties and uncles, grandparents, friends and family who were truly by her side to the end.  And by us, her parents. She completed our family and will be in our hearts forever.

Olive was a fighter, a superhero.  We are so proud of her and carry her spirit wherever we go.

We love you, Olive.