'Pushing for answers could save your child's life'

The mother of a boy who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer has urged other parents to "trust your gut" and "push for answers".

Now aged nine, Spencer, from Swindon, was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma in March 2024 after experiencing symptoms including a lazy eye, dribbling and headaches.

Following two brain surgeries lasting more than 23 hours and nine months of chemotherapy, Spencer has returned to school, something his mum Char called "a miracle".

"Push for answers. It could save your child's life," she said. "If we hadn't pressed for an appointment for Spencer, he would not be here today."

"To see him enter Year Eight, smiling and surrounded by friends, is nothing short of a miracle," she added.

When Char found out Spencer's diagnosis last year, she said she was "horrified" and burst into tears.

A medulloblastoma is the second most common form of brain tumour in children according to Cancer Research UK.

"We were told if we hadn't gone to the hospital when we did, he wouldn't have lived much longer," she said,

Now, more than a year on, Char has spoken out, hoping to encourage more parents to get their children checked as part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Char described signing the consent form for Spencer's surgery as "the hardest thing I've ever had to do".

Whilst successful overall, the operations caused damage to the right side of his body, meaning he now uses a wheelchair and has had to learn to write with his left hand instead of his dominant right.

Despite that, he has now returned to school.

Char said: "Too many parents are still in the dark. I want to say this loud and clear - trust your gut.

"Seeing Spencer walk through those school gates again was emotional. I didn't think we'd ever get to this point."

Letty Greenfield, community fundraising manager at Brain Tumour Research said: "Spencer's story highlights both the bravery of young patients and the urgent need for better funding into childhood brain tumours. Just 1% of the national spend on cancer research is allocated to brain tumours. That must change."

Char said she hoped more families would feel "empowered" to push for the care their children need as a result of Spencer's story.

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