Parents of a toddler who may have just weeks to live have criticised the lack of research into brain cancer in children.

Andy and Sally Hall, from Abingdon, have set up the charity Blue Skye Thinking in honour of their five-year-old son Skye, who has been battling a brain tumour for a year.

But tragically, the treatment that has helped control the cancer has made Skye sicker than ever. In May he was diagnosed with radionecrosis, where healthy cells in his brain and spinal cord have been damaged by radiation.

Mr Hall, 42, said: “His disease is stable, but it is the side effects of the treatment which are killing him.”

Along with Mrs Hall, 36, he hopes to raise funds for research into less toxic treatments.

Mr Hall, a teacher at Abingdon School, said: “Skye is clearly our primary focus, but what is also of importance to us is that other children afflicted by this horrible disease have access to treatment which is less cruel and less debilitating in nature.”

The charity’s first action is the Loom to the Moon appeal, to try to make the world’s longest loom band – where elastic bands are twisted together to form a chain.

It has more than 9,600 likes on Facebook, and the family have already received more than 6,500 metres of loom band.

  • Do you want alerts delivered straight to your phone via our WhatsApp service? Text NEWS or SPORT or NEWS AND SPORT, depending on which services you want, and your full name to 07767 417704. Save our number into your phone's contacts as Oxford Mail WhatsApp and ensure you have WhatsApp installed.


Our top stories