An active and healthy teenager was sent home from school with a headache only to end up with a tumour diagnosis.
Callum Stone’s mum Sarah and stepdad Mark Ferris were called up to come and collect him in January. And when Mark got there, he said the 15-year-old was struggling to speak.
“He told me quite loudly in reception at school he loved me but he wasn’t getting his words out quite right, he wasn’t coming across as normal,” Mark explained to PA Real Life.
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He decided to take the lad to A&E in Chelmsford, but he ended up suffering three seizures on the way there.
Callum spent a week in hospital, with a series of tests showing slight inflammation on his brain. Although there was concern, it was thought that it could be a viral infection and he was discharged with anti-seizure medication.
The sporty teen was put under the care of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and went with his family for a follow-up appointment a week later.
Unfortunately, a more detailed MRI scan here revealed a ‘large tumour’ in his brain.
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Callum underwent a biopsy in February and his family were informed he had a diffuse grade four glioma - a type of cancerous tumour which starts in the brain.
“It was shattering,” Sarah said. “In a matter of hours, our world has just completely been thrown upside down but a few months ago, we were just a normal family.”
The mass has been deemed inoperable and described as growing like ‘a cobweb’.
“It’s quite hard to explain something like that to a child and his brother,” the mum added.
And Mark noted that when his family members delivered the news, Callum was more concerned about them and ‘smiled and hugged’ them.
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From late February, the teen received six weeks of daily radiotherapy at University College Hospital in London and is set to have an MRI on 5 May to see how the tumour has responded.
“He’s gone from being a boy who has never been sick to taking so many different tablets and being in hospital,” his mother said.
But Sarah adds that he’s ‘doing as well as you could be’ as he continues exercising and keeping in touch with mates.
“Starting off, it was a bit hard and I was a bit moody and quiet - but I’ve been feeling better lately,” Callum said.
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“Eating well and exercising actually makes you feel a lot better and I’ve been walking the dog, riding my bike and going out to the gym.
“To others in my position, I’d say go out for walks with your family and keep telling lots of jokes.”
His family have launched a GoFundMe page to raise money to explore alternative cancer treatments abroad.
Callum is set to start ongoing chemotherapy treatment in tablet form next month, but his mum explained that ‘for his type of tumour, there are no other treatment options for him on the NHS really’.
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“There’s a clinic in Germany, there are some clinical trials for things similar to Callum’s in San Francisco,” Sarah added.
“We’re just looking for other options, we’re looking everywhere.”
At the time of writing, the fundraiser has raised over £95,000 which Mark said has been ‘lovely’ and ‘overwhelming’ to see.
His mum added: “It’s really just to let people know that we’re trying to find other options for him and this will be his best chance, but obviously that comes at a massive cost.”
Jess Battison