The mother of a brave Slade Green seven-year-old who travelled to America for cancer treatment has dubbed Government plans to fund the UK's first proton beam centres as 'fantastic' but 'too little too late'.
Frankie-Rose Lea who lives with her family in The Nursery, was diagnosed with cancer in her brain and spine on August 4 last year.
Following a public appeal to raise £160,000, the Haberdashers’ Aske’s pupil flew to Oklahoma City on November 25 to undergo six weeks of proton beam therapy in the ProCure Proton Therapy Centre, returning to the UK in February.
Frankie-Rose Lea pictured in America
Proton beam therapy uses beams of protons to achieve the same cell-killing effect as conventional radiotherapy but in proton beam therapy the beam of protons stops once it "hits" the cancerous cells, causing much less damage to surrounding tissue.
Earlier this month, NHS England’s Medical Director, Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, welcomed the announcement that work will start UK’s first proton beam therapy cancer centres in London and Manchester this summer.
The Government is investing £250 million in the building of the two specialist centres at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, which will provide highly targeted radiotherapy for patients with hard to reach cancers from 2018.
Family: Alfie 11, Michelle Lea, Frankie Rose 7, Freddie, 6.
Michelle Lea, 36, said: "'My fear is that we are still a long way off a treatment centre with open doors, the centre in America went from first brick to first treatment in just over a year.
"Though this is fantastic for all the families this could help in the future, for us it's too little too late.
"To have this treatment on your doorstep so you can go through such a terrible with your supportive friends and family around you would be fantastic but I hope it will be open to everybody, without constraints.
"Life saving treatment for children should in my opinion be a priority for the NHS and I can’t help thinking that had less been spent on cosmetic procedures or weight loss surgeries it might already be available."
Frankie-Rose is now back at school and will undergo her first scan today (March 24) although it will not be clear whether or not the treatment has been successful until around June.
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