Tipperary girl who battled rare cancer crowned Barretstown’s 175,000th Camper

A second class pupil from Tipperary who has been battling cancer for over a year returned to Crumlin Hospital recently to ring the bell to signal the end of her treatment.

Hayleigh Price, who became Barretstown’s 175,000th camper over the summer, has been diagnosed with bilateral Wilms Tumor, a rare kind of childhood kidney cancer.

The Newport native, who turned eight last month along with her twin sister Hannah, has just begun second class and according to her mother Leanne “is doing absolutely amazing”.

Hayleigh and her family’s world was turned upside down overnight when she was diagnosed with the disease, in August 2025, the day after her seventh birthday.

Mrs Price described how she had dropped her other two children, Jack and Hannah, to her mother’s (home) so that she could take Hayleigh to see a doctor, not knowing it would be 11 days before she and Hayleigh would return home following the unexpected diagnosis. “It was an absolute whirlwind of up, and down and in-betweens,” she told Tipperary Live.

The mother-of-three emphasised how fast things progressed in her daughter’s treatment saying: “She was given her first treatment before we even came home after those 11 days”. Hayleigh’s mother described how, like any other mother, she went into “mammy mode” with Hayleigh's health and comfort being her priority.

She has also commended her husband, Kevin, who reached out to Barretstown, which provides respite services, and signing them up in the early days after Hayleigh’s diagnosis.

After leaving Crumlin after those initial 11 days, the seven-year-old was up and down to the children's hospital for Chemotherapy and MRI scans before being scheduled for surgery in December 2025.

The family first visited Barretstown, a leading provider of psychosocial care for children and young people experiencing serious illness, for two days as part of an Autumn/Winter camp, two months into Hayleigh’s Cancer journey.

Hayleigh’s treatment was really starting to take effect at this time with “lots of big, monumental, life-changing moments,” explained Hayleigh’s mother.

“Hayleigh loved it, she went horse riding, canoeing, did arts and crafts, there was archery, there were performances… and we've done ziplining as well, and that was her favourite thing, was the ziplining. It was absolutely incredible,” the grateful mother described.

As much as Barretstown was a fantastic place for Hayleigh, it is clear that the charity, based in Kildare, was a blessing for the entire family. “It’s like Disneyland and without the rides” and a place of “bonding, relaxation, activities, fun and joy,” explained Mrs Price.

Barretstown’s Med Shed was another aspect that Mrs Price complimented saying: “morning, noon, or night, if your child needed anything from the medical standpoint, it was there, it was catered for, there was someone to be able to help you”.

The family returned to Barretstown in February of this year, following Hayleigh’s surgery to remove her right kidney and ten percent of her left kidney, in December 2025.

She also described the positive impact it had on her other two children, Jack (12), and Hannah (8). The former having just returned from a five-day camp. “He cannot wait to go back next year. He had the best time ever,” the mother of Barretstown’s 175,000 camper exclaimed.

Mrs Price and her husband, Kevin also benefited immensely from their time spent in Barretstown, She said: “it really gave us as a family unit just the normality of, ‘oh, this is okay, life is normal’, while there's a lot going on in the background, we are just still ourselves, Hayleigh is still just herself. “Barretstown showed me that I can just be, it's okay to just be in the present moment.”

Mrs Price chatted animatedly about her daughter’s appearance in the new campaign for Barretstown. The new strategy involves the establishment of a Psychosocial Clinical Research Hub, the first of its kind in Ireland, which will be led by Dr. Chiara Besani.

According to a spokesperson for Barretstown which was established over 30 years, Dr. Besani is “a world leader in the field, this Hub will lead cutting-edge, evidence-based research into psychosocial interventions, helping to shape new standards, support transformative change in national care systems, and inform policy and practice both nationally and internationally”.

“The creation of this Research Hub marks an important new chapter, recognising that supporting children through serious illness requires more than medical treatment alone. By advancing research into the social, emotional and developmental needs of children and families, this work will help strengthen evidence-based approaches to psychosocial care and contribute to improving outcomes across our health system.

“Barretstown's impact extends far beyond its camps, reaching families, siblings and communities. It has delivered immeasurable benefits to tens of thousands of children over the past three decades. I commend the staff, volunteers, supporters and former campers whose dedication has made this success possible,” stated Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.

In relation to the campaign in which Hayleigh is featuring in, Mrs Price said: “She's so delighted that she can just help more people. While she's still not 100 percent on the other side, she still has check-ups and all the rest of it, but she's delighted now that only a year from the date of diagnosis that she's able to go full circle and be doing positive stuff already to help people.”

It is clear Mrs Price is immensely passionate about the work of the volunteers at Barretstown, or ‘Caras’ as they are known in the facility. She encourages all families experiencing childhood cancer, or other serious illnesses to spend some time there during their treatment and recovery journeys.

Hayleigh’s mother’s remarkably positive mindset radiated throughout our conversation, as she thanked her work as a life coach, reiki and holistic therapist as the reason for this positive attitude in such a challenging time for Hayleigh and her family.

“Today is our blessing and we'll just take tomorrow when it comes,” Mrs Price concluded.