Kids Like Us Biogs

Zuza

Zuza is 13 years old and is the world’s biggest Taylor Swift fan. Her favourite Taylor album is 1989 and her favourite things to do include doing her makeup, listening to her other Taylor Swift albums, spending quality time with her family (especially playing with her brother Fin) and going to live music shows to see her other favourite artists.

Zuza was diagnosed with high-risk acute myeloid leukaemia when she was three years old and has combatted her diagnosis a returning five times. Following a recent bone marrow transplant she received the sad news that her cancer returned after all clear scans. She is currently undergoing therapies to combat the illness.

Zuza is continuing her fight against cancer, with the love and care from her mum, dad and brother by her side, and is currently enjoying travelling to cool destinations such as the Maldives and London.

Tia

Tia is 11 years old and is wise beyond her years. A brilliant speaker, she has the ability to chat to other children on a very mature level and to inspire them.

During the time Tia was filming with us, she showed her inquisitive side, often intelligently asking how the filming process worked. She was so understanding of the process that she self-assigned herself a ‘director’s role’, informing us of how to capture cool shots and sequences in which she featured. When she grows up Tia wants to be an actor, a surgeon and an Olympic swimmer, and in that order!

When Tia was just four years old, she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. She began receiving chemotherapy, immunotherapy, total body irradiation therapy and immunosuppressant at Great Ormond Street Hospital and St Mary’s Hospital, until eventually receiving all clear scans. Unfortunately, Tia relapsed and had to undergo another course of treatment to qualify for a bone marrow transplant, which she underwent in December 2022.

Tia has been in remission for one year and six months and is enjoying life to the fullest, taking the opportunity to regularly go and visit the South Bank with her friends and focussing on her schoolwork which she enjoys. Tia recently attended her first hairdressers’ appointment in a very long time and she love the results.

When all five of the British children in Kids Like Us met up for the main studio shoot in Manchester, firm friendships were formed – none more so than that between Tia and Harry. The pair became the best of friends and video call each other regularly.

Dulcie

Dulcie is seven years old and lives in Telford. She loves to dress up particularly as her favourite movie character, Wednesday Addams. She adores her cat, Rupert, and her dog, Milo. Dulcie also loves having sleepovers with her best friends and role-playing with their dolls.

Dulcie was diagnosed with stage four high-risk neuroblastoma in her abdomen when she was five years old. Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that develops in nerve cells called neuroblasts and it mostly affects children under the age of five. It is common to start in the abdomen area and can spread to other areas of the body, such as the bones, liver, skin and bone marrow and through the blood and lymphatic systems

Since her initial diagnosis Dulcie has since been confirmed as having the SMARCA4 germline (RTPS) which means she’ll have to undergo six-monthly check-ups with yearly scans.

Dulcie received treatment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and also a thirty-week minivan trial at Southampton Hospital and recently received all-clear scans showing no signs of disease.

She is hopeful that, following more ‘maintenance treatment’, she will be able to undergo a third round of immunotherapy and finally, as she says, “kick cancer’s butt!”.

Leighton

Leighton is 12 years old and the middle child in his family. He loves to spend time with his older sister, Abigail, doing activities such as sewing (he’s created some amazing cushions!) and looking after Abigail’s baby, Arlo (yes, he’s already an uncle… and holds his head in his hands comically at the weight of that!).

Leighton also has a younger sister, Willow, who he loves to play Uno with (even though they both get very competitive with each other!).

Leighton’s biggest passion in life are trains, particularly steam engines, and he can name every British steam engine that has ever been – he even has a full model railway track set-up at home which he presides over with great joy. His second biggest passion in life is his beloved Leeds United FC, who he hopes will be back in the Premier League very soon.

In 2019 Leighton was diagnosed with a large cell anaplastic medulloblastoma when he was just six years old. He underwent emergency surgery to release pressure on his brain, requiring a further operation two days later to remove the tumour. His surgery left him unable to walk or talk which meant he had to spend five months on the neurology ward at Leeds General Infirmary, re-learning these abilities. Following this, Leighton also underwent aggressive treatment undergoing thirty rounds of radiotherapy and four rounds of chemotherapy to stabilise his condition.

In 2024, Leighton was given the all clear and celebrated being cancer free for five years

Harry

Harry is 10 years old and loves telling jokes to his friends at school. His favourite things in life are his family, cheese and onion crisps, and Glasgow Rangers FC. No matter what life throws at Harry he always sees the brighter side of things, often placing other people’s needs selflessly ahead of his own, which is the reason why he is so liked by everyone.

While filming, Harry made friends with the entire crew very quickly. He was super inquisitive about everyone’s else’s lives – “what made you get into filming?” he asked every crew member. His natural good humour made Harry incredibly easy to be around throughout the filming period. So did his ability to tell hundreds of jokes – some of which are captured in the film.

In 2020 Harry was diagnosed with a grade-two pilocytic astrocytoma and was then re-diagnosed in 2023 with a grade-two ganglioglioma following the removal of his brain tumour. Harry’s tumour caused him to lose most of his eyesight, and due to the nature of the surgery to remove the tumour, he also suffered from a stroke which impacted one side of his body. He has needed physiotherapy and regular exercise to help him with this side effect but he has made an amazing recovery and is able to walk again and use his arm properly again.

Harry has amazed his braille teacher at school due to how quickly he is learning that skill and his favourite subject in class involves him learning about our planet and outer space.

Eve

Eve is an avid dancer and has danced with professionals all over the UK to master her art. She has just finished her GCSEs and loves hanging out with her friends in her spare time. Eve is the world’s biggest Disney fan.

In 2019 she was diagnosed with a cyst and a tumour (craniopharyngioma) in her brain. The tumour was too near to vital structures and vessels in her brain, meaning surgery on the tumour itself wasn’t available which meant she was referred to Christie’s in Manchester to receive proton beam therapy to stop any growth of cysts and of the tumour itself. This means Eve has frequent hospital visits and three-monthly MRIs to monitor that she is okay. At the moment, the tumour remains but is not increasing in size, so Eve is considered to be in a stable condition.

As a side effect of this treatment she has received and the tumour itself, she has to inject herself every day with growth hormones as she has a loss of pituitary function. Despite requiring life-long treatment, Eve refuses to be defined by this and recently went skiing – something which she loved.

Alec and Aden 

Twin brothers Alec and Aden are the best of friends. They both love soccer and racing their remote-control cars in the garden, and are VERY competitive with each other when it comes to playing games with each other. Their debate about the world’s greatest soccer player appears endless, with Alec worshipping Ronaldo and Aden backing Messi (neither is likely to budge). The boys also love going on camping trips and recently visited a working farm where they took care of livestock.

Despite both battling the same type of cancer at different times – Aden is currently in treatment – this certainly hasn’t got in the way of their energy levels. A regular day for the boys involves getting home from school and running around the house, sliding in their socks on the wooden floors, or generally causing chaos with their other siblings. Pranks, playfights, pulling faces at each other are standard from this pair who never fail to raise a smile.

In 2019 Alec was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and underwent chemotherapy, ringing the bell in 2022. Just one year later Aden was also diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and is currently in the maintenance phase which will for another twelve months.