Joey Sharp, from Edinburgh, was diagnosed with an aggressive brain cancer when he was just 11 days old, yet he has now started school, a milestone his parents once feared they might never see.
In December 2020, Joey had only been home for a week when he was taken back to hospital. He had been struggling to feed, losing weight, and suffering from jaundice that was not improving. Doctors suspected a tumour and rushed the tiny newborn for life-saving brain surgery. Samples taken during the operation later revealed he had glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer that usually affects adults.
Parents told to prepare for the worst
Mum Sam and dad Steven were told to prepare for the worst as Joey underwent three more brain surgeries and nine rounds of chemotherapy before being given the all clear. Joey, who now lives with cerebral palsy and the lasting effects of his treatment, has reached the milestone of starting school.
His family say he is now a "happy and determined" five-year-old who "fills every room with laughter". Mum Sam said: "Watching Joey walk through those school gates was incredibly emotional, not just for our family but for the many doctors, nurses and therapists who have supported him since he was only 11 days old."
Emergency surgery and chemotherapy
Joey was admitted to the Royal Hospital for Children in Edinburgh for intravenous antibiotics after medics noticed what looked like a tiny infection in one of his fingernails. Within hours he had a CT and MRI scan, and his parents were told he needed emergency brain surgery that day, or he was unlikely to survive.
Sam said: "Our world had shattered. I had been making Christmas lists, buying presents and organising family fun. Suddenly, it all seemed hopeless. The days passed in a blur as we sat by his side in intensive care. Two days before Christmas, he had his second brain surgery but we still had a way to go with six months of intense chemotherapy."
Call for more research funding
The family say the courageous P1 pupil has come on leaps and bounds every year, encouraged by his sister, Carly, and brother, Robbie. Brain cancer survival rates in children have only improved by five per cent since 1997, and only one new treatment for childhood brain tumours has been approved since 2000, yet investment into research is critically low.
Sam is supporting Brain Tumour Research's calls for the government to increase investment into research into the disease to £45 million a year by 2029. She is also running the Edinburgh Marathon next year to raise funds for the charity. She added: "Whenever training gets difficult and I want to stop, I think about Joey and everything he has already overcome. His courage motivates me to keep putting one foot in front of the other. More research means better treatments and, ultimately, more families getting the chance to watch their children grow up."
