AID ALBIE, THE TODDLER WITH EXTREMELY RARE TUMOUR

Twenty one month old, Albie Waite from Fairford in Gloucestershire has recently been diagnosed with cancer. He has a Rhabdoid tumour. A very rare tumour. A very aggressive tumour.

The tumour was first detected when Albie’s mum, Leanne was dressing Albie and his arm got stuck inside his t-shirt. As Leanne tried to pull his arm free, it bent backwards slightly and Albie screamed with pain. Leanne knew that something was wrong and she and her husband, Chris, spent the next few weeks making several trips to A&E, followed by x-rays, CT scans and MRI scans at Swindon Hospital, before being referred to the Bristol Royal Children’s Hospital and then to a nerve specialist for a biopsy at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, London. 

Now the devastated parents, who have lived in Fairford all their lives, face daily trips to Bristol and sometimes London with Albie, so that he can receive chemotherapy, radiotherapy and physiotherapy. 

Leanne and Chris were childhood sweethearts and even went to school together. Their wedding in 2020 was one of the first weddings in the country to take place after the first Covid lockdown. Leanne, who has two daughters from a previous relationship, Lilly (9) and Poppy (7), suffered three miscarriages after she had Albie and now she is pregnant with a fourth child due in October.

As a self-employed general builder, Chris does not get paid if he doesn’t work, so with three children, another on the way and the prospect of many weeks travelling back and forth to Bristol – a 120 mile round trip – things are looking bleak financially for the family. At a time when Leanne and Chris should be focussing their full attention on their sick toddler and his sisters, they have the additional worry of how to pay the bills and the travelling expenses.

A Just Giving page has now been set up for people to donate to Aid Albie. Please give generously at: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/aidalbie.