Ethan’s Story

“Our beautiful boy had a busy life for a 15 year old. He was preparing for his GCSEs in October 2019, studying between playing football and basketball. He was a very fit and healthy young man.

It was on a Monday after one of Ethan’s long weekends working towards his DofE Award that had him complaining of a headache. Justin and I were concerned but thought it could be from a busy weekend. Over the next few days the pain became unbearable. Then Justin received a text from Ethan who was at school which read: “I can’t find my words I need a doctor’s appointment”. From that moment, everything happened so quickly.

Ethan saw the doctor that afternoon and was referred for an MRI scan. We had a call that same evening The scan showed a 4cm tumour on Ethan’s right frontal lobe and he would need a biopsy to determine the type and treatment options available.

We knew our lives would never be the same and our world fell apart. Results came back confirming the tumour was a glioblastoma (GBM). Within three-and-a-half weeks of being diagnosed, Ethan had already undergone 2 surgeries.

He had 6 weeks of radiotherapy followed by 9 months of chemotherapy which finished in October 2020. “Not once did Ethan complain. He stood strong in the face of this awful disease.”Ethan developed epilepsy as a side effect of the radiotherapy.

Throughout everything, Ethan was a fighter and dug deep to hold on and stay strong for his family, including his two siblings who were 11 and 13 at the time. Although he knew it was cancerous, he never knew the prognosis.

In November his seizures were becoming daily, a follow-up scan in December 2020 showed a reoccurrence of the tumour just days before Christmas.

Heartbroken but determined not to give up we had to face the reality that we had reached the boundaries of treatment options in the UK. Overseas treatments were found at a cost of around £250,000. Friends, families and strangers all donated towards this. It did shrink the tumour sadly Ethan became too poorly to travel so he couldn’t continue with treatment.

Ethan died on 26 November 2021 at home in his bedroom, in a place he loved, surrounded by people he loved and who loved him deeply.”