Little boy kept bumping into furniture before doctors made devastating diagnosis

A schoolboy was diagnosed with rare, inoperable brain cancer after his parents noticed he kept bumping into furniture.

Aubrey Rothery, seven, has a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma - a tumour without a clear boundary which infiltrates healthy brain tissue and spreads between brain cells. Affecting just 20 to 30 children in the UK each year, the five-year survival rate is just one per cent.

Parents Andrew Rothery, 54, and Samantha Hibbert, 51, noticed something was off with Aubrey when he kept losing his balance and knocking into things. They initially put it down to a growth spurt but, when it kept happening, they took him to hospital for an MRI. And on February 23 he was diagnosed with a DIPG, which primarily affects children between five and nine.

Symptoms of the tumour include facial asymmetry, lack of coordination and loss of control of certain body movements, nausea, exhaustion, headaches and seizures. Andrew and Samantha are now hoping to raise awareness of the rare condition while fundraising for Aubrey's treatment. They have already raised more than £10,000 towards a goal of £25,000.

Andrew, from Newton Abbot, Devon, said: "It was very subtle to start with, he was bumping into bits of furniture. He'd grown a lot and is quite gangly and lively and active and we thought he's just not noticing where he's going. All this happened within two days, our lives just turned upside down out of nowhere.

"It feels like in some ways like hope is the most important thing we have to hold on to - the diagnosis is harsh, and the prognosis is pretty bleak. We were just in pieces, it was an incredible shock - this can't be happening to our beloved beautiful boy."

Andrew, a community development worker, and Samantha, a full-time mum, say they first noticed something wasn't right when Aubrey started bumping into furniture around the house and losing his balance. When he was sent home from school because of his balance they took him to the doctor, thinking it was a viral infection. Their GP advised they go to the hospital immediately and following an MRI on 23 February, doctors broke the tragic news to the parents.

Aubrey was rushed to Bristol Children's Hospital where he is now receiving radiotherapy and steroids to stabilise his condition while they consider long-term treatment. Before his diagnosis, Andrew says Aubrey was always on the go loving being outside, playing on the trampoline and dancing. But now he's only able to play with his friends for 10 minutes before needing to rest and spends his days in bed.

The parents say they're researching curative treatments via clinical trials but Aubrey would need to undergo a biopsy to access the trials which is challenging due to the location and type of tumour. "It's devastating, we have responded as you do as a parent, you do whatever you can do for your children and that's what we're doing," said Andrew.

"If you look at history of survival rates around this tumour, there aren't many people who have survived. We've looked and haven't found much evidence of survivors beyond five years but that doesn't mean that can't happen. What we're focusing on is hope and positivity it's well known with cancer survivors that positivity and hope you will survive is absolutely key. We're building is this sense of positivity, support and love from us and his family, friends and wider community."

For more information and to donate, visit Aubrey's GoFundMe.