Four-year-old Brooke Birch is a little girl living in a world of shrinking horizons, racing against a clock that is slowly stealing her sight. But if you ask her, she’s just a regular kid who loves Frozen, dreams of magic, and wants nothing more than to meet Princess Elsa.
For her parents, Dave and Zoe Birch, the reality is far more agonizing. They are currently locked in a desperate bid to give their daughter a dream trip to Disneyland Paris before a low-grade brain tumor leaves her permanently blind.
The family’s nightmare began with what seemed like a routine childhood milestone. Noticing that one of Brooke’s eyes appeared “lazy” and was struggling more than the other, Dave and Zoe took her to an optometrist. Initial medical interventions were standard: glasses and an eye patch to strengthen the weaker eye.
But instead of improving, Brooke’s condition took a sudden, alarming turn. The vibrant toddler grew lethargic and stopped eating.
“Within a week, we had an emergency phone call from her consultant to get her an MRI scan,” Dave recalled. “They found a shadow behind the eye and two shadows further back in the brain. Our brains were going into overdrive.”
The diagnosis was a low-grade glioma. According to data from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, pediatric low-grade gliomas are slow-growing tumors that account for roughly 30% of all central nervous system tumors in children, making them the most common of their kind.
While doctors offered the small mercy that Brooke’s tumor is not fatal, they delivered another devastating truth: the diagnosis is entirely life-changing. Because the tumor is deeply intertwined with the nerve behind her left eye, surgical removal is a medical impossibility.
A Cruel Contradiction
The medical strategy for Brooke is not a cure, but containment.
“They can’t guarantee any success rate with it going away. The treatment is to try and stop it from growing and causing any more issues,” Dave explained.
This has left the Birch family navigating a heartbreaking medical paradox. Recent MRI scans brought relief that the tumor itself has remained stable and hasn’t grown. Yet, a subsequent eye appointment revealed that the optic nerve is dying, turning white, and aggressively stripping Brooke of her vision.
“In her last eyesight test, she was able to see pictures the size of an apple, but now she can’t even see that size,” Dave said, charting the rapid decline.
Racing the Darkness to Find the Light
It is this ticking clock that has catalyzed the family’s mission. Knowing that Brooke’s window of sight is closing, Dave and Zoe are determined to get her to Disneyland Paris. They want her to see Elsa, her favorite Disney princess, with her own eyes while she still can.
However, the financial toll of chronic illness has threatened to ground that dream. Zoe has stepped into full-time caregiving duties for Brooke, and Dave has been forced to significantly slash his working hours to support the family.
“We’ve just about got enough money for the bills we need to pay, but we’ve got no money to make memories with the children,” Dave said. “Brooke would be most excited to meet Elsa from Frozen at Disney. She loves her, but also loves being a princess like any little girl.”
To bridge the gap, the family has launched a GoFundMe campaign, turning to the kindness of strangers to help fund the memory-making trip.
The Heavy Toll of the Fight
Meanwhile, the grueling routine of medical intervention continues. Brooke is currently undergoing chemotherapy, a treatment that leaves her fatigued, pale, and severely immunocompromised—narrowing the parameters of her daily life even further.
Despite the grueling regimen, her resilience remains a beacon for her parents.
“Brooke is such an inspiration and no matter what she is going through she still fights to be the best she can,” Dave shared in an online update.
Following an urgent MRI, Dave confirmed to supporters that the tumor has not shrunk, meaning Brooke will remain on her current treatment plan for the foreseeable future.
For Zoe, the emotional weight of holding a family together while grieving the loss of her daughter’s health is a daily, exhausting battle.
“I wish it was me and I wish I had it and I could take it away from her,” Zoe said, echoing the universal ache of a helpless parent. “When you’re a parent, you can’t cry in front of them when you’re trying to grieve. If you do this, you feel like you’ve failed as a parent. I don’t know how to take it all. I’m physically and mentally struggling.”
Yet, through the hospital visits, the chemotherapy, and the fading light, Brooke keeps smiling—and her family keeps fighting to ensure her final clear memories are filled with magic.