Oscar was born in June 2014, a much-longed-for baby. He was a normal, healthy, happy little toddler. But, when he was three years old, Oscar was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma of the right temporal fossa.
Within days of diagnosis, Oscar had his central line fitted and was admitted to the hospital to receive round one of 13 sessions of chemotherapy. It was decided that surgery to remove the mass was an option.
Oscar underwent surgery but, due to inadequate healthy tissue margins, Oscar would still need proton therapy treatment to hopefully reduce the risk of relapse.
Oscar and his family flew out to Germany to start proton beam therapy treatment. They lived in Germany for seven weeks while Oscar received 28 sessions of proton therapy, under general anaesthetic, 5 days each week. That was Oscar’s final course of treatment and, on their return to the UK, he finally got to ring the End of Treatment bell.
Oscar never complained, even though he struggled with terrible sickness, joint pain and fatigue, but this didn’t stop him from always having the biggest smile on his face and filling the room with his infectious laugh.
Oscar is doing really well now and life is slowly returning to some kind of normal for him and his family.
Katrina has specialised in the field of occupational personal injury for over 35 years and has worked exclusively for the victims of asbestos related diseases for the last 20 years. Katrina is an APIL Accredited Occupational Disease and Asbestos Disease Specialist and Senior Litigator and has Law Society Personal Injury Accreditation.
Carla has over 20 years’ experience specialising in strategic communications, engagement and marketing across the public and private sector, including the BBC, Manchester Metropolitan University and Muse Developments. She is currently Executive Director of Corporate Affairs and Marketing for The Growth Company, an award-winning social enterprise that enables growth, creates jobs and improves lives.
