A mother's decision to go for a Christmas morning walk led to the critical discovery that saved her young son's life after she noticed him dragging his leg.
The Christmas Morning That Changed Everything
On Christmas Day 2023, Ania Hough from Staplehurst, Kent, suggested a walk after her eight-year-old son Jamie woke with a headache. The festive morning had begun typically, with Jamie jumping on his bed and opening presents. After complaining of the headache, Ania gave him medicine and hoped the fresh air would help.
During the walk, Jamie's condition worsened. He began complaining of pain near his jaw and ear, something he had never experienced before. "As we started walking back, he started to drag his leg," Ania recalls. She initially told him to stop being silly, but he insisted he couldn't walk properly. In that moment, she knew something was seriously wrong.
A Race Against Time for Diagnosis
Jamie's headaches had actually begun in October 2023, making him sick. Ania, 42, first thought it was a school sickness bug. After calling NHS 111, she took him to A&E at Maidstone Hospital. She claims he was not offered scans, and symptoms were attributed to dehydration from a stomach bug.
As the headaches became daily and more severe, a GP suggested migraines. For two months, Ania managed Jamie's pain with Calpol while awaiting a hospital neurology referral letter that she says never arrived.
On Christmas Day, after the telling walk, Ania took matters into her own hands. Driving to A&E, Jamie was sick and dozed off in the car. This time, at the hospital, he finally received a CT scan. It revealed abnormal brain activity, prompting an immediate transfer to King's College Hospital in London.
Life-Saving Surgery and a Mother's Warning
On Boxing Day, December 26, 2023, Jamie underwent a gruelling 12-hour surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumour. A biopsy identified it as a 6cm by 5cm choroid plexus carcinoma, a high-grade, fast-growing tumour more common in one-year-olds. Its first symptom is often morning pressure headaches.
Neurosurgeons told Ania it was a matter of hours. The tumour was creating massive pressure, with swelling and a cyst. "If Jamie hadn't gotten there when he did, they wouldn't have been able to help him," she said.
Jamie's treatment was arduous. He had a second 12-hour operation on January 12, 2024, plus two further surgeries to fit a drain and a shunt to manage brain fluid. He then endured 30 sessions of proton beam therapy and six rounds of chemotherapy, finishing treatment on September 29, 2024. He received the all-clear in November 2024.
Now 10, Jamie has celebrated two Christmases since, and Ania watches him write to Santa. She is grateful but believes the system failed him initially. "I think the hospital messed up with Jamie and should have done more on our first visit," she states. Earlier detection might have reduced his four surgeries to one and avoided the need for a permanent shunt.
Ania's message to other parents is clear: "As a parent, if your child is suffering from headaches, push for a CT or some kind of scan." She praises the Lennox Children's Cancer Fund for their support but credits her own instinct on that fateful Christmas walk for saving her son's life.
A spokesperson for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said they were pleased Jamie is doing well, but could not discuss individual cases. They stated that clinicians balance the benefits of CT scans against radiation risks, and encouraged anyone with concerns to get in touch for a review.
