In the end I had to accept my son would die
Judge rejects family’s bid to get him treated in Italy
LITTLE BATTLER David and Sacha Sacha Langton-Gilks’s son David, known by the family as DD, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2007 at the age of 11.
Over the next five years he endured 20 months of chemotherapy, six weeks of radiotherapy and 11 brain operations.
In 2012 the cancer returned for a third time. The family decided to reject the medication that might prolong his life for a short time and instead enjoy his final days.
His mum Sacha, 50, from Dorset, says:
They say he’s suffering... he’s not even on a ventilator and he’s not suffering
TOM EVANS ON ALFIE’S SURVIVAL OFF LIFE SUPPORT “Like most parents in this situation, my husband Toby and I disagreed with the doctors all the time about what was best.
“But it is so important to remember: it is this disgusting horrible disease to blame, and not the parents or the doctors.
“Families in this situation often feel they have no information, no support, and are completely isolated. No one tells you about ‘anticipatory grief’. You’re grieving for the life you wanted your child to have, for the family you wanted to have. Everyone was saying ‘stay positive and try everything you can to keep DD alive’, even though we knew his cancer was incurable.
“If you allow yourself to say ‘this is not curable and this disease is going to kill my child’ you feel like a coward and bad parent.
“By not giving up hope, you are almost in denial. So allowing this end-of-life process becomes almost impossible. I have written a book, Follow the Child, to help others.”