A Lanarkshire schoolboy has tragically passed away after battling a rare form of brain cancer.
Fraser McAllister is remembered as a “happy and selfless” boy who didn’t like to upset anyone as his heartbroken mum leads tributes to her beloved son.
The 18-year-old Hamilton College pupil fought bravely against his illness after being diagnosed with an anaplastic glioneuronal tumour two years ago.
And in June when he spoke to Lanarkshire Live, Fraser opened up about his journey and to raise awareness of a drug used to treat patients like him which can’t be accessed in the UK.
Sadly, Fraser died at his home in Waterfoot, East Renfrewshire, on July 10.
His legacy, now being carried on by mum Caroline Molloy, is to raise the profile of the trial treatment, only available in the EU, called ONC201 in the hope it can help others.
Fraser only started this treatment in May and had to travel to Paris to access it. And it was able to alleviate some of his symptoms.
Remembering her late son, Caroline said: “Fraser was a happy selfless boy who didn’t like to upset anyone. He thought of others before himself. That’s just the way Fraser was.
“He wanted to get on with everyone, and he would’ve been a hard worker."
The drug ONC201 was "difficult to find", Caroline explained. But due to the positive impact it had on Fraser, she wants to continue to raise its profile, just as Fraser did before his death, as well as raising awareness of his illness.
“Fraser wanted to highlight this drug, and I want to keep highlighting his story for him", Caroline added.
“The drug was working with Fraser until he had the pseudomonas. But with Fraser’s condition, that infection can be quite fatal. He was in hospital for 18 days.
“The strong antibiotics he got to fight that was to kill all bacteria, which when I heard that, I thought ‘there goes the new drug’."
Fraser began this treatment in May on his return from Paris.
“Half of Fraser’s swallow had been taken away and he had to learn to walk again after his operation", Caroline told.
“He had had six doses of this new drug all in, and each week his symptoms would change. First of all it had helped his eyes, then the next he could feel his mouth.
“He fought so hard and he didn’t once complain, no matter what he went though.
"His brain tumour was at the back of his head and was a rare one, so nobody knew which way it was going to go. We were devastated."
Caroline added: “He had a scan on the Friday, July 8, and the only way to describe him was he was like a puppet with no strings or a voice, because when he had an infection he wasn’t allowed to wear a voice valve.
“He kept pushing himself. He wanted to improve his mobility but on the Friday he was exhausted."
Whilst receiving treatment earlier this year, Fraser told his oncologist that he actually felt guilty for being in receipt of the drug as he knew other people needed it.
ONC201 is understood to have a high success rate but is not a cure for cancer.
Unfortunately, Fraser's tumour later spread to the brain stem as a scan days before his death revealed.
Caroline said: “His cancer was explained to me like a spider’s web, it just keeps growing until it suffocates. But with Fraser being young he could cope with it but his brain couldn’t.
“After the scan on the Friday we asked how long he had and they told us it could’ve been a few weeks or a few days. But I still never thought he would’ve passed on the Sunday.”
"He always wanted a platform to raise his story to make people aware", Caroline added.
In June, a charity football match was held by Fraser's classmates, raising more than £6000 for the Beatson Cancer Charity. And since then, some of his friends have launched their own fundraisers in his memory.
Speaking of his gruelling journey earlier this year, Fraser said: "In early 2018, I noticed I was dizzy, but only when I looked up. There was no real explanation given, and it was put down to my age. I August 2019 I started to be sick intermittently, only in the morning, and also have stomach pains only in the morning."
Doctors were unable to find anything wrong for some time and when the first lockdown hit in 2020, Fraser's headaches started once again, his symptoms escalated and was in a lot of pain.
He added: "I had severe pressure in my head that didn't ease and I also nearly fell in the house. My head felt like it was going to blow up, my mobility was reduced and we headed to hospital."
After being taken for an MRI which revealed the tumour, Fraser said: "The following day my world fell apart."
A lot of intense treatment followed for Fraser. He fought his illness bravely and before passing wished for more to be done to raise awareness of his condition to help others in future.
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