Thomas‘ Story

Our beloved Thomas died aged 13 from a brain tumour. 

This was his second brain tumour. The first developed when he was 1 year old and he went through two surgeries, chemotherapy and proton beam radiotherapy. Nearly ten years later, as the world locked down for COVID, a second tumour appeared due to the side effects of earlier treatment. Despite two and a half years of further surgery, chemo and radiotherapy, the tumour persisted and Thomas died at home in November 2022 surrounded by Becca, Ted and his two younger brothers Evan and Dewi.

Thomas seldom let his illness get him down and his enthusiasm for life was infectious. He played the drums, the glockenspiel and county level hockey.  He wanted to be an architect and was always building with whatever he could get his hands on, be it Lego or wood from his grandpa’s workshop.  He loved school and his friends there; he immersed himself in school life playing in the band and the hockey team.

He was brave, kind, and inspirational and we miss him so much.

Our Story

We are Ted and Becca, Thomas’ parents. we are both doctors working in the NHS but by no means experts in the field of palliative care. When we found out that Thomas was not going to survive his cancer, we were desperate for information so that we could care for him in the best possible way. We wanted practical information about what the journey might look like, aware that for every child and family it is different, but needing something – an anchor in the storm – to guide us through.

These are difficult conversations to have and it wasn’t always easy to gather information about this time. We have created this website and podcast in the hope that others may benefit from hearing our experience.