Like all young children, Aubrey Rothery suffered her fair share of bumps and accidents with furniture.
But what most parents would understandably attribute to childhood difficulties ended up being a sign of a cancer that kills most sufferers within a year.
Aubrey’s parents, Andrew, 54, and Samantha, 51, thought something was wrong when their seven-year-old son kept losing his balance and crashing into objects.
But they initially dismissed it as the result of a period of accelerated growth.
When the accidents continued, the couple sought help from doctors to determine the cause of Aubrey’s mishaps.
Aubrey Rothery, 7, has been diagnosed with a deadly form of brain cancer called diffuse midline glioma (DIPG).
His parents revealed that they became concerned after the school asset began experiencing problems with balance and bumping into furniture.
An MRI eventually revealed that these problems were due to a tumor growing in his brain, and the family received the devastating diagnosis just last month. Pictured: Aubrey’s mother, Samantha Hibbert, comforts her son in the hospital.
An MRI revealed that her “beloved, beautiful boy” had a diffuse midline glioma (DIPG).
This rare brain tumour, which affects between 20 and 30 children a year in the UK, mainly arises in children aged between five and 10 years.
It grows in the midline, between the two halves of the brain, and kills most of those who contract it within a year.
Only 2 percent of patients are alive five years after their diagnosis.
On average, patients diagnosed with DIPG can expect to survive between eight and 11 months.
Cancer grows through the brain causing various symptoms, but one of the most common is problems with walking, coordination or balance.
Rothery, a community development worker from Newton Abbot, Devon, said the family were “devastated” following Aubrey’s shock diagnosis in February.
“At first it was very subtle, it hit the furniture,” he said.
‘He had grown a lot and is quite lanky, lively and active and we thought he just didn’t realize where he was going.
‘All this happened in two days, our lives turned upside down out of nowhere.
‘It seems that, in some ways, hope is the most important thing to hold on to: the diagnosis is harsh and the prognosis quite bleak.
“We were in pieces, it was an incredible shock.”
He added: “This cannot be happening to our dear, beautiful boy.”
After Aubrey’s balance problems forced him to return home from school, his parents took him to his family doctor suspecting he might have some kind of viral infection.
Their family doctor then urged them to go to the hospital immediately.
He is now being treated at Bristol Children’s Hospital and receiving radiotherapy, where doctors use targeted bursts of radiation to try to kill the tumours.
Her parents said that before her diagnosis, Aubrey was always on the go and loved to play outside, jump on the family trampoline and dance.
But now he spends most of his days in bed and can only play for about 10 minutes before needing to rest.
Rothery and Hibbert, a full-time mother, said they are trying not to lose hope, but recognize the reality that patients with DIPG do not have a good prognosis.
“It’s devastating, we’ve responded as you do as a parent, you do everything you can for your children and that’s what we’re doing,” Mr Rothery said.
“If you look at the history of survival rates around this tumor, there are not many people who have survived.
Aubrey’s mother, Samantha, and father, Andrew Rothery, say they are trying to remain hopeful and are investigating possible clinical trials for DIPG that their son might be eligible for. In the photo: the family at Christmas.
“We’ve looked and haven’t found much evidence of survivors beyond five years, but that doesn’t mean that can’t happen.
‘What we are focusing on is hope and positivity; It is well known among cancer survivors that positivity and hope for survival are absolutely key.
“We are building this sense of positivity, support and love from ourselves and his family, friends and the wider community.”
The couple hopes to raise awareness about cancer while raising funds for possible treatments for Aubrey’s.
They are currently investigating possible clinical trials for DIPG, but say Aubrey would need to undergo a biopsy to be eligible.
Such a biopsy is a challenging prospect given the location of the cancer and the type of tumors DIPG causes, which are difficult to distinguish from healthy tissue.
So far they have raised over £10,000 towards a target of £25,000.
The symptoms of DIPG vary depending on the specific nature and location of the tumor.
Including balance problems, the most common signs of DIPG are weakness in the arms and legs, difficulty controlling facial expressions or one side of the face that appears different from the other, speech problems, problems swallowing or chewing, and problems of vision such as seeing double or double. being unable to control his eyes.
Scientists still don’t understand what causes DIPG to activate in the first place,
Radiation therapy is the standard treatment with DIPG due to its location in the brain and the fact that it is extremely difficult to distinguish between cancer and healthy tissue surgery, usually impossible.