World Cancer Day: brave tot who was Christie’s youngest patient marks his recovery from a brain tumour

A brave youngster from Greater Manchester who became the youngest patient to have treatment at the city’s renowned cancer hospital The Christie has helped to mark a double milestone.

Teddy Slade, from Stockport, was just 18 months old when he underwent proton beam therapy.

His story has now been shared to mark World Cancer Day.

And Teddy, who is now four, is also helping The Christie mark the third anniversary of its high-energy centre, the first of its kind in the UK.

What is the story of Teddy’s battle with cancer?

Teddy was just 18 months old when it was concluded that he required proton beam therapy for a rare brain tumour.

After surgery to remove the tumour he had six and a half weeks of proton beam therapy, making him The Christie’s youngest patient.

Proton beam therapy is a specialist form of radiotherapy that targets cancers very precisely, increasing success rates and reducing side effects, which makes it an ideal treatment for certain cancers in children who are at risk of lasting damage to organs that are still growing.

Fortunately Teddy’s treatment went well and he now only requires regular check-ups to monitor his progress.

His mum Amy said: “A diagnosis like Teddy’s is terrifying and devastating. However, the proton beam centre at The Christie is a place of hope.

“It was a huge shock when Teddy was diagnosed as he was so young and to be told he had a brain tumour was absolutely heartbreaking.

“However, the staff at The Christie are amazing and the care Teddy and the support our whole family received there was first-class.

“We are so very lucky to have this life-saving medical technology in Manchester.”

Teddy now lives in Stockport with his parents Amy and Dan and also has two older siblings, 17-year-old Lottie and 14-year-old Charlie, while his grandmother Althea also lives nearby.

He has just started pre-school and is enjoying a normal and full life.

What has the hospital and NHS leaders said about Teddy’s ordeal and proton beam therapy?

Teddy’s consultant at The Christie, Gillian Whitfield, said: “It is great to see Teddy doing so well and we were thrilled to be able to help him at the centre near his home here at The Christie.

“Being able to give patients like Teddy proton beam therapy is wonderful as it not only reduces the side effects of the treatment but also means his family did not have to travel abroad as many did before the NHS opened the centre here in Manchester.”

Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said: “Since Teddy received the first NHS proton beam therapy treatment at The Christie, over 700 patients in the UK including 300 children, have benefitted from this pioneering treatment.

“In the last few months we have also opened a second centre at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, meaning even more patients now have access to this world-class, cutting-edge care for cancer.

“This is a major milestone for the NHS and marks the completion of our plans to deliver PBT therapy in the UK and radically transform cancer treatment across the country.”

NHS patients who are eligible for proton beam therapy in England have been able to go abroad to have it since 2008, but it was only when the £125m centre opened at The Christie in late 20 that they could be treated in the UK.

What is World Cancer Day?

Teddy’s story has been shared to mark World Cancer Day, which falls each year on 4 February.

It is an initiative created by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) which works to make life-saving cancer diagnosis, treatment and care available to everyone around the world.

The theme for World Cancer Day between 2022 and 2024 is Close The Care Gap which recognises and seeks to confront and remove some of the inequalities people face in the quality of cancer treatment they are able to access across the globe.

The UICC is calling on people to come together and help work towards a cancer-free world.