THIS is the toddler who has been left PARALYSED after docs misdiagnosed his cancer for THREE MONTHS.
Brave Ollie Knowles was screaming in pain when mum Sarah, 34, took him to see doctors a staggering FIFTEEN times.
Doctors failed to identify an aggressive cancer tumour
Ollie was left paralyzed by the cancer’s progress down his spine
But each time they dismissed him, saying it was just constipation or colic
When his aggressive cancer was finally found, it had spread to his spine causing him to be paralysed from the waist downwards.
If it had been caught earlier, then he would never have been paralysed.
Mum Sarah, who lives in Leigh, Lancashire, with husband Phillip, 34, who works for the payroll for Bolton council, said: ‘I was very angry for a long time.
“They said that it was because of Covid, that a lot of the appointments were over the phone as we weren’t allowed to go to the surgery.
“We have received counselling to deal with our anger about it, and we are just trying to look top the future.
“But if he had been seen earlier, then it would have been caught before it had spread to his spine and paralysed him.”
The couple first noticed that Ollie was crying a lot and had a swollen stomach in July last year. They rang the doctors but could only get a phone telephone appointment because of Covid, and doctors said they thought he was constipated.
Sarah, who owns a snooker club, said: “He was in so much pain all the time. He had been such a happy baby so it wasn’t like him.
“The doctors said it was constipation. But I knew that something was wrong. I would put him to bed and as soon as he laid down he was screaming. Now I know that it’s because the tumour was pressing on his stomach.”
Ollie continued to cry continuously over the next three months, and the couple consulted doctors 15 times but each time was told it was constipation or colic.
Sarah said: ‘We didn’t know what to do. Nothing was working to try and ease his pain. He would just be crying and upset constantly. It was so upsetting to see him like that.’
In September, Ollie woke up one morning, and he fell to the floor when he tried to stand up.
‘IN SO MUCH PAIN’
Sarah said: ‘I thought he was messing around at first, but then I realised that he had lost all feeling and sensation in his legs.
The couple rushed him to hospital where scans revealed the terrible truth. He had an aggressive childhood cancer called neuroblastoma, with a tumour the size of an apple in his stomach. And it had spread to his spine, causing the paralysis.
Sarah said: ‘It was devastating news. We couldn’t believe what we were being told. After all this time, he had been crying because the tumour had been causing him so much pain.’
Tiny Ollie had to start aggressive chemotherapy treatment straight away at Manchester Children’s Hospital, which finished in November.
Sarah said: “He was so young he didn’t understand what was going on, but he was so poorly with the chemotherapy that every time he was allowed home, he’d develop infections and a high temperature.”
The chemotherapy has managed to shrink the tumour, but Ollie’s legs still remain paralysed.
Sarah said: “We don’t know if he will ever walk. The GP surgery has apologised and said that due to Covid his cancer has been missed.
“We have since moved surgeries. We have paid a high price from covid – it has affected people in so many more ways than just having the disease itself.
“Even though he can’t walk, Ollie is still now such a happy little boy because he isn’t in pain anymore.”
Ollie has regular scans, and his tumour is now the size of a walnut. Doctors declared him in remission in January and so far there is no sign of the tumour growing any further.
Sarah added: ‘He is going to be ringing the end of treatment bell at the end of this month, and it will be an emotional moment for us after everything he has been through.
“We are so proud of him and how he’s coped with it all.”
