Gaby’s fight of courage

Gabrielle Alderson is fighting a rare form of cancer normally only found in children half her age. Her only hope may be a drug trial abroad. Catherine Scott meets her.

Just a few months ago Gabrielle Alderson was like all the other children about to start their final year of primary school. She was looking forward to moving on to secondary school, enjoying gymnastics and reading. She had her entire life ahead of her.

Now Gaby, 11, spends most of her time undergoing gruelling treatment for a rare and vicious strain of cancer, which affects just 100 children a year in the UK and normally children much younger than Gaby. Her future now hangs in the balance.

She has lost her hair and has to carry around a bag of goat’s milk which is fed directly into her stomach via a gastric nasal tube because she has lost her appetite and treatment left her with painful sores in her mouth.

But mention the words ‘bacon sandwich’ and her little face lights up and the beaming smile, which was Gaby’s trademark before her cruel diagnosis, returns. Gaby was diagnosed with stage four high risk neuroblastoma in September last year. Although she has undergone painful and intensive treatment including chemotherapy, the cancer is not responding as doctors would wish and the family fear Gaby’s only hope is treatment abroad.

“Treatment for neuroblastoma lags behind in this country,” says Gaby’s mother Vicki, who also has son Maxwell, six. “In America and Germany they have far more trial treatment options available.”

But the family will need to raise in the region of £500,000 to send Gaby for the potentially life-saving treatment. They are fund-raising through the Neuroblastoma Children’s Cancer Alliance, which advises families on treatment options both here and abroad. Gaby’s school and the local community have rallied round to help the little girl have a chance of life.

“So many people have been so amazing, holding fund-raising events, we have been really touched by them,” says Vicki

Vicki first noticed there was something wrong when Gaby’s energy levels seemed to dwindle during the summer holidays.