Brave Tom battling back after cancer

When little Tom Blakemore was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, his parents feared the worst.

But nearly a year later the brave 10-year-old has battled an inoperable tumour and undergone weeks of gruelling treatment.

Tom, of Hillcrest Avenue, Halesowen, is now in remission after spending three months in America being given pioneering Proton Therapy.

He is currently going back to Colley Lane Primary School for half days - and has even started playing football again for the Brierley Hill Bullets.

His mum, Jayne, 38, said: "He has been so brave, he really is a special boy.

"We have always tried to be positive because Tom has been. In America he said he would get back and the tumour would be gone - and it was.

"I think his positive outlook and the way he has dealt with it all has been a key factor in his recovery."

Tom was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma in January after suffering from headaches and dizziness.

Doctors found the tumour behind Tom's face, where the skull meets the spine. Because of the unusual position of the tumour, he needed an intense and accurate form of treatment.

In Proton Therapy, proton beams are directed at tumours more precisely than standard radiotherapy, making the treatment more effective.

The NHS paid for Tom and his parents to travel to a specialist clinic in Jacksonville, Florida and the family stayed at a hostel run by the Ronald McDonald house charity, which provides accommodation for families away from home for hospital treatment.

Tom's dad, Simon, a self-employed scaffolder, said: "Sometimes it got to Tom and he said he wanted to give up but he always kept going." Tom still has to visit a consultant every month and have a scan every three months but his parents say he is returning to "his old care-free self."

Tom's story is now being used as part of a campaign to support a bid for a proton unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, which would cost between £75 million and £100 million.