Clegg: My son’s cancer put life into perspective
Former deputy prime minister and his wife speak publicly about son’s battle with Hodgkin lymphoma
NICK CLEGG and his wife Miriam have disclosed that their son has been suffering from a rare form of cancer and said telling him his diagnosis was “one of the toughest things that we have ever done”.
Antonio, the couple’s 14-year-old son, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, in September last year.
The teenager is now in remission and “on the road to recovery” but Mr Clegg, the former deputy prime minister, said his son’s battle had put his own life into perspective.
The parents also praised their son’s bravery as they said he had been more concerned about keeping up with his classmates at school than his illness.
The former leader of the Liberal Democrats said the moment that he was told his son had contracted cancer it was as if someone had detonated a “word bomb”.
He said: “Certainly if you are unfamiliar with it, as we were, and your initial reaction, I think, we found, was like any mum and dad, it’s irrational, but you just have this almost physical wish to try and take it off your kid and take it yourself.
“And then very quickly you get into the pretty gory details of the treatment.” Ms González Durántez added: “In the
‘His anxiety was more about keeping up with his classmates. So it was very impressive actually’
case of Antonio and us really, we dealt with it by carrying on and trying to keep things as close to the routine that we had beforehand and also being very open.
“I think probably us telling him was one of the toughest things that we have ever done.” They had decided to take Antonio to see a doctor immediately after finding a small lump on his neck, something Ms González Durántez said was a “stroke of luck” because the doctor “spotted it could be something more serious”. Mr Clegg recalled seeing his son’s immune system fail as he went through “brutal” chemotherapy. Ms González Durántez told ITV’S Lorraine Kelly: “Eventually you realise that there is not so much that you can do as a parent, the only thing you can do is be there for him and some of these treatments are very tough.”
Meanwhile, Mr Clegg praised his son’s resilience. He said: “His anxiety was more about keeping up with his classmates, keeping up at school. So it was very impressive actually.”
Mr Clegg spent the better part of a decade on the front line of British politics before losing his Sheffield Hallam seat on June 8 this year. He was also on the losing side of the EU referendum.
But he said his son’s ordeal had put his professional struggles into perspective. “You have got your work and you’ve got all sorts of other things going on in your life but when something like this happens it just becomes the sole, principle objective, just to make sure he is better,” he said. The couple decided to speak out to raise awareness of the Bloodwise charity which conducts research into blood cancers.