A heartbroken mother has told of her agony after her “cheeky” toddler died from a rare brain tumor just a year after unexpectedly suffering a seizure.
Albie Bayliss-Watts, from Didcot in Oxfordshire, was a happy and healthy baby.
But in October 2020, at just one year old, his parents rushed him to the hospital after suffering seizures.
Here, doctors believed he had tonsillitis or epilepsy and referred Albie to neurology, his mothers Lauren and Hayley Bayliss-Watts said.
However, just six weeks later, before a follow-up appointment with a specialist, he began vomiting blood.
Albie Bayliss-Watts, from Didcot in Oxfordshire, was a happy and healthy baby. But in October 2020, when he was only one year old, his parents rushed him to the hospital after suffering seizures.
Here, doctors believed he had tonsillitis or epilepsy and referred Albie to neurology, his mothers Lauren and Hayley Bayliss-Watts (pictured) said. However, just six weeks later, before a follow-up appointment with a specialist, she began vomiting blood.
Scans later revealed he had a mass the size of a tennis ball on his brain and he was rushed into surgery. His cancer was “so aggressive” that his parents were not even told his name. Only that treatment should begin as soon as possible, they said.
Scans later revealed he had a mass the size of a tennis ball on his brain and he was rushed into surgery.
His cancer was “so aggressive” that his parents were not even told his name. Only that treatment had to start as soon as possible, they said.
However, despite intensive chemotherapy treatment, he developed three more inoperable tumors and died in November 2021.
Lauren and Hayley Bayliss-Watts are now urging parents not to ignore any worrying symptoms.
They said Brain tumor research: “Albie fought cancer with style and spirit and our memories will always remind us how amazed we were by our little fighter, until the end.”
They added: “During his short life, Albie touched the hearts of many people and filled our world with nothing but pure joy.”
Around 12,000 Britons are diagnosed with a brain tumor each year in the UK, including 500 children.
The disease is the deadliest cancer in children and adults under 40, according to The Brain Tumor Charity.
Research offers the only real hope of achieving dramatic improvements in its management and treatment.
More than £700 million is spent on cancer research in the UK each year, but less than 3 per cent is spent on brain tumours.
After returning to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford when Albie vomited blood in December 2020, doctors assured Lauren and Hayley Bayliss-Watts that it was probably an illness that had caused the lining of his stomach to bleed, they claimed. Only after a CT scan and MRI showed her tumor did she undergo the operation which lasted 10 hours.
There are two main types: Benign, non-cancerous tumors grow more slowly and are less likely to come back after treatment.
Cancerous or malignant brain tumors can start in the brain or spread from other parts of the body and are more likely to be incurable.
After returning to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford when Albie vomited blood in December 2020, doctors assured Lauren and Hayley Bayliss-Watts that it was probably an illness that had caused the lining of his stomach to bleed, they claimed.
Only after a CT scan and MRI showed his tumor did he undergo the 10-hour operation.
“The growth was causing so much pressure that within hours he was undergoing emergency brain surgery,” they said.
“Happy and relieved,” the Bayliss-Watts brought Albie home five days after surgery.
“At only 18 months old, he was so strong and brave it was incredible,” they added.
“We soon recovered our cheeky little man and hoped to be out of danger, but sadly that was not the case.”
On New Year’s Eve, just three weeks later, he vomited blood again.
An emergency scan found her tumor was already growing back and she began an intensive chemotherapy routine with six-day treatment cycles, followed by 21 days off.
The Bayliss-Watts said: “The side effects were brutal but he would get stronger with each round.”
‘He was running around the room, laughing, playing, making everyone smile and making us feel very proud. We called him ‘the unstoppable boy’.”
However, by July, the chemotherapy had damaged his bone marrow, reducing the number of blood cells, to the point that he could no longer continue the regimen.
Instead, he was subjected to six weeks of hospital treatment which “made him much sicker”, they added.
An emergency scan found her tumor was already growing back and she began an intensive chemotherapy routine with six-day treatment cycles, followed by 21 days off. The Bayliss-Watts said: “The side effects were brutal but he would get stronger with each round.”
Albie returned home in August and appeared to be recovering well, giving his mother hope that he would make a full recovery.
But heartbreakingly, they were dealt another blow in October, when scans showed the disease had spread to their cerebrospinal fluid (a colorless fluid found in the tissue surrounding the brain) and there were “areas of concern” in their column.
Despite additional treatment, further tests in November also tragically discovered that he was hemorrhaging from a new tumor in his cerebellum, at the back and base of his brain.
“There were no further treatment options available and we were completely distraught,” said Lauren and Hayley Bayliss-Watts.
He was moved to a hospice in Oxford. Just six days later he died.
His parents are now urging parents to know what symptoms they should not ignore, in light of how suddenly Albie’s health deteriorated.
They have also established the ‘Albie and beyond’ fundraising group for Brain Tumor Research, raising more than £34,000 to help fund research for a cure.
Earlier this month, Lauren completed a 34km ultra challenge on what would have been her son’s fifth birthday, raising nearly £3,200.
She told the Oxford Mail: “We should have been preparing his fifth birthday cake, not preparing to celebrate more birthdays without him.” The pain never ends.
“No parent should have to go through this, but with historically only one percent of national spending on cancer research going toward brain tumors, this is happening too much.”
