A toddler who appeared fit and well after suffering from an has now been given just weeks to live.

Two-year-old Florence Prideaux-Godwin, from Ilfracombe, Devon, developed painful earache in May 2024. But tests later confirmed a shocking diagnosis of stage three rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare type of soft tissue .

Despite being treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, a scan earlier this month revealed a tumour in the two-year-old's ear had spread to her brain. Her parents, Dan Godwin, 40, and Rebecca Prideaux, 32, have been told by doctors that her cancer is now untreatable and have been told to make as many memories together as a family as they can.

The couple, who also have a five-year-old daughter and twin three-year-old boys, have organised a holiday to Butlins, in Minehead, next week with the approval of doctors. Dan said: "She is starting to get a bit shaky and lose her balance a little bit now and again, but she is still laughing, smiling and playing. Our plan is to spend as much time as possible with her." Florence was born two months premature and spent the first two months of her life in hospital. However, since then she has enjoyed a healthy and happy life up until developing earache last May.

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Dan told: "We noticed she had a temperature and she was playing with her ears. We took her to A&E at North Devon District Hospital and it was confirmed she had an ear infection. She was prescribed antibiotics and we came away happy.

"A few days later we noticed she was playing with her ears again. She put her finger in her left ear and pulled out something I can only describe as looking like a skin tag so we took her straight back to A&E. The opinion was she had a more severe ear infection so she was prescribed stronger antibiotics. Again we were happy with that.

"Then a few days later when we got up in the morning, my partner noticed her face looked different and as the day went on the left side of her face started drooping. It looked like she had suffered a stroke so we went back to A&E and were told it could be fluid from the infection pressing on her nerves."

Florence was transferred to an ENT specialist at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital where a procedure was carried out to drain most of the fluid. Polyps found in her ear were sent off for testing. A week later she returned home but a day later she became unwell again and the decision was made to drain the remaining fluid from her ear. At the beginning of June she was able to go home and seemed fine until the end of the month when her health deteriorated.

Dan said: "We were back at the RD&E and doctors said to us, 'to be honest, it's a mystery', as they weren't sure what was going on. The next day, on July 1, the results from the polyps in her ear came back as cancerous. We were told she had a tumour in her left ear. Initially they thought it had spread to one of her lymph nodes, but then we were told that wasn't the case. Pretty much straight away she was started on chemotherapy."

The treatment plan for Florence was nine courses of chemotherapy lasting around three weeks each. She received alternating cycles of standard and then a trial chemotherapy. Scans in September showed the treatment was working and the tumour was shrinking. In October, she spent eight weeks at the University College Hospital in London for proton beam therapy, a type of radiotherapy.

Florence finished her last course of chemotherapy at the beginning of January and was given another progress scan. However, this time it was not good news. Dan, who has remained at home with their other children while Rebecca has stayed by Florence's bedside in hospital, said: "We had been very positive and upbeat as she had done really well and had been brilliant throughout it all.

"Florence had the obvious side effects of chemotherapy such as losing her hair and she was a bit up and down, but on the whole she was amazing and was still playing and laughing. To look at her, apart from not having hair, you would not have been able to tell anything was wrong with her. But then we were told the cancer had spread from her left ear to the back of her brain and that her cancer was now incurable.

"Initially we were told there were a couple of options such as chemotherapy to prolong her life a little bit. Then a week later, last Thursday, we had another meeting with doctors and they said they were unable to do anything else for her and that she had days or up to weeks to live. I can't describe how it felt being told that news. It was probably one of the lowest low points of my life."

Florence is now back home with her family and is still full of smiles as usual. Dan said: "We have been told to spend as much time as we can with her making memories. We have been to look at children's hospice Little Bridge House in Fremington where we will spend a few days the week after our visit to Butlins.

"We usually go there every May for our children's birthdays. Our team of doctors have pre-warned Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton about Florence in case we need to go there while we are away." They are being helped to enjoy precious last moments with Florence thanks to an online fundraiser that has been set up by family friend Callie Courtney Baxendale. It has so far raised just over £7,000.

Florence is said to be still happy and enjoying playing, but her little body is now showing signs of the effects of her cancer. The set up for the family is hoped to help them do more fun things with Florence while she is able to. It is the second fundraiser that has been organised for them. The first, which raised just over £2,000, helped them financially after having to stop work to care for Florence.

Dan said: "When we found out the news that Florence was terminal, another fundraiser was set up to help us make as many memories as possible. The support we have had is unbelievable. We have been blown away by it. We would also like to thank the staff at both Barnstaple and Exeter ; they have been fantastic, as have the community nurses."