Alice’s guard of honour
Hospital staff line corridors to clap as brave cancer survivor, 12, celebrates finishing 18 rounds of chemotherapy
WALKING bravely along with her crutches, a cancer patient aged just 12 was given a guard of honour by hospital staff as she celebrated finishing a gruelling course of chemotherapy.
Alice Rossington endured 18 sessions in eight months for a rare bone cancer, as well as having to have surgery on her leg.
But at the end of the ordeal she was told she is in remission.
Last week, with staff lining up to applaud her, she made her way along the ward at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, the furthest she’d walked since the operation.
She then rang a bell and read a poem on the wall that said: ‘Ring this bell, three times well, its toll to clearly say / My treatment’s done, this course is run and I am on my way.’
The schoolgirl had endured difficult side effects including nausea and vomiting, losing her hair and developing sores in her mouth. She also had the cancerous section of bone in her leg removed and replaced with a titanium rod. Her father Nick, 52, who was watching her celebratory walk with wife Victoria, said: ‘I think she felt quite humbled that people were making such a fuss over the eight months she got through.
‘We both felt very emotional because it was so nice to have all the people that had been there getting Alice through all this – it wasn’t just about the doctors and nurses but the support staff, the cook, the physiotherapist.
‘The journey had a massive impact on all of our lives, so to walk out was a significant moment.’
In a video filmed by the hospital, Mrs Rossington, 50, who is a deputy headmistress, told staff: ‘Thank you so much for everything you have done, from the bottom of our hearts. Our family has been brought back together again because of what every single one of you has done.’
Alice, from Grantham in Lin- colnshire, began feeling pain in her leg in October last year, which was first thought to be growing pains and then sciatica. But when her leg began to swell, an MRI scan on February 14 at Peterborough City Hospital identified the cause as osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Just 530 new cases of the disease are reported in the UK each year.
Amazingly, it emerged that Alice had managed to excel in Grade 4 modern dance and ballet exams two months earlier despite having a crack in her weakened fibula.
She had her first course of chemotherapy at the end of February. The last was on October 13, three days after her birthday. The operation on her leg took place in July.
Mr Rossington, who is managing director of a property firm, said: ‘The pathology report showed they had managed to remove all the tumour and it hadn’t spread. She then returned to Addenbrooke’s for what’s known as wash-up chemotherapy so no cells going around her body remained in her system. They say she is cancer-free but she’ll be in remission for five years and will be closely monitored.’
Alice is resting up at home with her parents and sister Isabella, 14. Her brother Charlie, 22, a quantity surveyor who lives in London, made regular visits. She is having work sent over by Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School but hopes to return to classes in January.
Mr Rossington added: ‘From the start, Alice took everything in her stride. She knew it was something she just had to get through. Her strength of character has been amazing.’ The video of her walk has been viewed nearly 50,000 times on Addenbrooke’s Facebook page.
Senior staff nurse Carol Chenery said: ‘The most inspirational part of the video is that Alice managed to walk from the bed to the bell.
‘This is the first time she had managed to walk that distance after her surgery. The bell really helps give a focus for the children who have to go through these really difficult treatments.’
‘Amazing strength of character’