Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Blue rings hospital bell to mark end of cancer treatment
‘Miracle’ boy, 12, overcomes leukaemia with help of pioneering therapy
A young cancer survivor once given 24 hours to live says Jesus told him it was not his time to go.
Blue Tobin was just three years old and gravely ill with an aggressive form of leukaemia when he told his family he had seen a vision of a man walking up to him.
His grandfather Norman Waite says the Canterbury schoolboy, now eight, believes it was Jesus.
The Roman Catholic youngster, who is clear of cancer, is now calling on other mums and dads to let other children “fight the cancer with Jesus”.
The St John’s Primary School pupil was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia in March 2011, two days after his second birthday, after suffering nosebleeds and excessive bruising.
Doctors at the Royal Marsden Hospital said they could try giving him a toxic double dose of chemotherapy which might allow him to go on to have a lifesaving bone marrow transplant.
The treatment is usually reserved for adults and the family were warned it could potentially kill him. But miraculously, he responded well and in May 2012 he was able to have the transplant.
A month later, however, Blue contracted multiple infections and medics feared he had only 24 hours to live. Astonishing doctors once again, he pulled through.
On Thursday, Blue was given the all- clear by the Royal Marsden on what was the fifth anniversary of his pioneering treatment and rang the hospital’s special “end of treatment” bell.
But the Chelsea FC fan, who lives in Elvington, near Dover, believes the vision of the man at his bedside telling him it was not his time to go also had something to do with his recovery. “I would say to other mums and dads let children fight the cancer with Jesus,” he said.
His mother Francesca Waite, 51, a finance operations manager at Marks and Spencer in Canterbury, says he is a beacon of hope for all children with the disease.
“I hope this can give other children with cancer and their families hope,” she said.
“Blue was the first child to have this kind of treatment and other parents have had it done for their sick children. They have contacted me on Facebook to thank me for taking a chance with my child to give theirs hope.”
Blue, who has an older sister Kizzy, 22, is now completely cured of cancer and focusing on his future. “I want to grow up to become a singer and be better than Bruno Mars. I also hope to see Chelsea in the FA Cup final if my dad can get us tickets.”