Telling our son he has cancer was toughest thing we’ve ever done
Former deputy PM says boy, 15, is ‘on the road to recovery’
FORMER deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has spoken of the harrowing moment when he and his wife had to tell their eldest son he had cancer.
Antonio, now 15, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma last September.
He found a small, painless lump in his neck and tests discovered lymphoma across his chest.
After treatment, including chemotherapy and heavy steroids, he is in remission – though he has had severe side-effects including hair loss, vomiting and fatigue.
Ex-LibDem leader Clegg and his wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez told ITV’s Lorraine Kelly they dealt with the diagnosis by trying to keep up their usual routine.
Miriam said: “The day he was told, and I think that probably us telling him is one of the toughest things that we have ever done, the following day he went to school, stood up and told everybody, ‘I have cancer’.
“That’s the way he dealt with it but other children and other families deal with it in a different way.”
Clegg said: “His lymphoma was all over his chest and his neck and he gets tested every three months, I think for a couple of years, so there is always a slight spike of anxiety with us every three months but basically he is on the road to recovery.”
The couple, who have two other children, Alberto and Miguel, are raising awareness of the charity Bloodwise, who are calling for research into less toxic cancer treatments for kids.
Blood cancer is the most common among the young, with more than 1100 under-24s diagnosed in the UK every year.
Bloodwise research director Dr Alasdair Rankin said: “One in five children diagnosed with the most common type of leukaemia still do not survive, and those who do often experience devastating side-effects.
“This is simply not good enough.”