Jessi Campbell: A little girl’s courageous battle after being born with a 1kg cyst on her arm – as parents reveal the cruel things other children do when they see her and what their biggest fear is

A little girl born with a giant cyst on her arm isn’t letting her condition get the better of her.

Jessi Campbell, two, from Brisbane was born on August 28, 2021 with a lymphatic malformation on the left side of her body, which doctors later diagnosed as Kippel Trelauney syndrome when she was 11 months old.

Klippel-Trenaunay syndrome is a rare condition that causes overgrowth of soft tissue and bone, causing the one-kilogram cyst.

Jessi’s parents, Amara and Jonathan Campbell, fear their daughter will be bullied because of her condition when she eventually starts school.

Ms Campbell, 34, said she has heard strangers say Jessi’s growth is “disgusting”, but she and Mr Campbell simply remind their daughter that she is “beautiful”.

Mr Campbell, 35, has also heard similar nasty comments, noting that ‘there are always people staring and looking at her hand’.

“Kids started pointing at her. “We never tell her bad things about her arm, we don’t behave disgustingly or anything,” he said.

Jessi’s parents hope the arm will have shrunk by the time she reaches school age.

“I remember being told at the beginning that her arm will look somewhat normal by the time she goes to school,” Mr Campbell said.

“We look forward to seeing that progress.”

Mr Campbell has been in a children’s hospital outside Brisbane with Jessi for two and a half years as doctors try to curb the growth.

He documented Jessi’s journey through a GoFundMe page where people can help give his daughter a normal life.

The money raised will go towards Jessi’s ongoing medical costs and custom clothing.

Jessi’s growth became so heavy that her spine began to curve by the time she turned two.

So far she has endured it three rounds of sclerotherapy where doctors inject a solution into the area causing the growth collapse and shrink.

Jessi still needs to undergo more rounds of therapy before any shrinkage shows up, but for now she’s focusing on learning to walk.

Mr Campbell said the weight of Jessi’s left arm changes ‘almost every day’ as the fluid inside moves – something that constantly throws her off balance.

During Ms Campbell’s 19-week scan, doctors were able to identify that Jessi had a lymphatic malformation while she was still in the womb.

When she was born, Jessi weighed 3.5kg and had pockets of fluid on her left arm, chest and hand.

“Her lump was bigger than we expected,” Campbell said.

‘It was a shock. It was really purple (and) confrontational. I was afraid of her.’

Mrs Campbell was unable to see her daughter for three days after losing three liters of blood during birth. Jessi spent ten days at the Mater Children’s Hospital before she was finally able to go home.

“All the baby clothes we had didn’t fit and we had to buy custom-made clothes for her,” Mrs Campbell said.

Despite this, the condition hasn’t stopped Jessi from playing with her sister, even though she continues to struggle with her balance.

‘It took her a while to find a balance for walking… (but) she’s so stubborn – she’ll do anything,” Mrs Campbell said.

To help improve Jessi’s mobility, Ms Campbell said she is undergoing treatment hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy.