A three-year-old boy from England will undergo a nine-month course of chemotherapy to treat an aggressive brain tumour after doctors dismissed his symptoms as "attention seeking".
The parents of toddler Arthur Ridout spent three months begging doctors to take his symptoms seriously after the young boy began to experience dizzy spells, vomiting and headaches at the end of 2021.
In a story published on Brain Tumour Research, Ridout's father detailed their lengthy experience.
On one occasion Ridout went down a slide on his mother Lauren's lap, when they got to the bottom the three-year-old was dizzy and wanted to lie in the dirt.
Lauren rushed him to the hospital and after being seen by a few different medics, one suggested he "could have just been attention-seeking" and was sent home.
Lauren continued to take her three-year-old son to the hospital as his symptoms persisted.
"Her mother's instinct told her that something wasn't right, so she persisted with the GP appointments and on their third visit in January, Arthur was finally referred to a paediatrician," his father explained.
It took two months of visits to the family's GP and a number of hospitals before Ridout was finally diagnosed with medulloblastoma in February.
Ridout was booked in for an MRI scan on February 8th which confirmed he had an aggressive tumour.
"Before we knew it, Arthur was being prepared to go into theatre and just an hour or so later, he was taken away from us for the surgery," his father said.
Two days followed and the three-year-old was operated on again in a 13-hour surgery to remove the tumour this time.
"The surgery was successful."
Following Ridout's procedures, the young boy went through rehabilitation, learning slowly how to eat, talk and walk again.
"He can now move around with the aid of a walker and [he's] starting to string together five or six-word sentences. We're proud of him."
On May 2 Ridout completed a six-week course of head and spine radiotherapy which his father says he received "really well".
"He had 30 fractions in total and coped really well."
Ridout will soon begin eight rounds of chemotherapy to prevent the tumour from growing back.
His father is now on a mission to raise money for Brain Tumour Research to find a cure for devastating cancer - taking part in the charity's 'Jog 26.2 Miles in May Challenge'.
