George was three years old, when in May 2022, he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma. George's mum, Lisa shares his story...

George (or ‘Just George’ in his words) was born a smiley, happy, active boy. He quickly learnt to love books and picked up language to compete with mummy and daddy at home. His love of vehicles, dinosaurs and space developed early and he has always had a mature ability to show empathy. My husband, David and I were proud parents, loving the kind and resilient boy George was growing up to be.

At the age of 3 (May ‘22), George was a healthy boy. Overnight a lump appeared in the temple location on the right side of his head, with no other symptoms. Following a fast process of scans and biopsies, he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma

George then rapidly entered the world of hospital life. Whole genome sequencing taught us that within his tumour was a particular gene, making it high risk. An intense package of treatment was put into place (which included nine rounds of chemotherapy, aggressive surgery and 6 weeks of daily Proton Beam radiotherapy in London).

George finished active treatment in Dec ’22. Weeks later he began maintenance chemotherapy which came to a sudden halt by May, when it was discovered he had relapsed. The tumour had returned whilst on maintenance chemotherapy and only 5 months after radiotherapy. Relapse treatment began despite the knowledge of the success rate being in single figures. In July ‘23 we learnt that the tumour had grown 25% whilst on the relapse treatment. Treatment ended. Hospital appointments reduced to almost none and we were gently passed to the local East Anglian’s Children’s Hospice for ongoing care.