Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Mum whose son died of cancer ‘plagued’ by fears of delayed treatment for other youngsters during pandemic

Post Thumbnail

A mum whose son died of a brain tumour says she is “plagued” by the thought of other children being left “stranded” while waiting for treatment.

Nine-year-old Dougal Morrison, from Aberdeen, died from grade four giloblastoma last January, just four weeks after being diagnosed.

Due to the norovirus outbreak that winter, the young Dons supporter had to wait for treatment which could have prolonged his life.

His mum, Jill Roberts, has now voiced fears that other families might be similarly affected due to the coronavirus crisis placing extreme demand on the nation’s hospitals.

Ms Roberts said: “During this pandemic, I’m plagued by the number of families now being told treatment is delayed as we were last year due to norovirus.

“This meant that by the time Dougal was clear of this, he was too weak and too far past the deadline to receive radiotherapy.

“His tumours had doubled in size in those two vital weeks.

“This would not have saved him but would have allowed us to be together for a little while longer.

“During this pandemic, I need to do something to help those stranded children and their families.”

Sister Jess with Dougal at an Aberdeen FC game

NHS Grampian has appealed for people with concerns about their health not to be put off seeking help immediately, so that they can be treated as soon as possible.

A spokeswoman said: “Managing and responding to the current pandemic is the top priority for the NHS.

“However, we are absolutely still open to provide non-Covid-19 care.

“Anyone with concerns about their health should still contact their GP or NHS 24 out of hours to seek advice.

“Our emergency departments are open to provide emergency care and patients are grouped into Covid or non-Covid pathways to minimise the risk.”

Ms Roberts is now teaming up with her daughter, Jess Morrison, to raise money for the Brain Tumour Charity in memory of Dougal.

The cash will go towards researching a cure for the condition responsible for the popular schoolboy’s death.

The mum will undertake a series of challenges, completing each one 26 times.

They include things like adorning herself with 26 different face paint designs, performing 26 karaoke “humiliations”, circling their block on roller blades 26 times and learning how to pull off 26 cartwheels.

The pair will provide video and photo evidence of each challenge.

Geraldine Pipping, the charity’s director of fundraising, said: “Brain tumours are the biggest cancer killer of the under-40s and, unlike other cancers, survival rates have not improved over the last 40 years.

“We are leading the way in changing this and truly fighting brain tumours on all fronts through our work.

“We receive no government funding and rely 100% on voluntary donations, so it’s only through the efforts of people like Jill and Jess that we can change these shocking statistics.

“No family should have to face such a devastating loss.”

To support the fundraiser, visit www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jills-26-challenge