The mother of a 12-year-old girl who is recovering from lifesaving brain surgery blames herself for passing on a gene to her daughters that made them susceptible to cancer.
'Miracle girl' Milli Lucas is less than two weeks into recovery after Sydney-based surgeon Dr Charlie Teo operated on her malignant brain tumour.
Her mother Monica Smirk has just learned that her own cancer has returned, and opened up about the debilitating condition that runs in her family.
The 47-year-old mother-of-three lives with a rare gene disposition known as Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS).
Barely enjoying her new lease on life, Milli has learned her mother Monica Smirk has been diagnosed with breast cancer yet again
'Miracle girl' Milli Lucas (pictured with mother Monica Smirk and father Grant Lucas) is less than two weeks into recovery after Sydney-based surgeon Dr Charlie Teo performed surgery on a malignant brain tumour that other doctors deemed too risky to operate on
Fewer than 1,000 people in the world live with it, as the hereditary disorder is passed on through the family and the carrier is exposed to a lifetime risk of cancer.
She confessed she blames herself for both of her daughters' cancer diagnosis, and said if she knew of her condition before she was a mother, she never would have had children.
'It kills me every night, I f***ing bawl my eyes out watching (Milli). I did that to her, to them, it kills me every day,' she said.
In addition to Milli's debilitating condition, her older sister Tess, now 15, was also diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Amelia 'Millie' Lucas (left), from Perth, was tragically diagnosed with an aggressive and
