A north-east dad has praised “miracle worker” doctors after his son had a nine-hour surgery to remove a brain tumour.
David Garcia and his wife Laura took one-year-old Lucas into hospital last month, and staff initially through he had a tummy bug.
But a scan revealed he had a grade three ependymoma. It is so rare that only two or three cases a year are recorded in Scotland.
Little Lucas was rushed to hospital in Edinburgh, where surgeons managed to remove the tumour.
Mr Garcia, who works at Aberdeen University, said: “I was in tears when I was told, unable to digest it.
“We were told the tumour would be impossible to remove completely because it was so big.
“But they managed to remove it all – it was a miracle.
“The neurosurgeon Pasquale Gallo, oncologist Professor Hamish Wallace and staff at Edinburgh Sick Kids are beyond amazing.”
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But it is not unusual for Lucas’ type of cancer to return, sometimes even more than a decade later.
Usually patients would receive radiotherapy but there is a lower age limit of three for that.
It leaves the toddler in a clinical trial of aggressive chemotherapy to reduce the chance of the cancer making a comeback.
He had two sessions in Edinburgh and now, back in Aberdeen, will undergo the treatment every other week for the next 13 months.
Mr Garcia, originally from Madrid, added: “We are still very scared because he’s only one and the chemotherapy is so aggressive.
“We are also scared the tumour might come back.
“For the rest of our lives, every time he has a cough or a tummy bug – normal things children get – we’re going to thinking it’s something else.”
The 36-year-old, who moved to the north-east five years ago for work, has already begun fundraising for Cancer Research UK.
After only a month, he has collected nearly £3,500 as he prepares to run further than he ever has before in August’s Great Aberdeen Run half marathon.
He said: “No matter how much I raise it will never enough.
“We want to raise awareness of how important it is research cancers to improve treatment because we never thought our son would have a brain tumour.
“Our friends and colleagues in the north-east have been extremely supportive.
“We can’t be grateful enough.”
