A promising footballer who was told he was suffering from long covid actually had a brain tumour. Kane Allcock, 15, suffered from persistent headaches after testing positive for covid-19 on New Year’s Eve in 2021.
Kane, a pro-youth footballer, was taken several times to the doctor and A&E, however, neurological observations didn’t indicate any problems. Kane and his mum and dad Nicki and Steve were told the migraines were likely caused by long covid but soon his headaches got worse and he began being sick and struggling to walk.
Nicki, a medical secretary for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, said: “We’d travelled to Blackpool on the Thursday before the Easter Bank Holiday weekend as Kane was due to take part in a tournament with his Crewe FC teammates. When we got there he was unwell and went straight to bed.
“The next day we took him to a nearby walk-in centre where they did a full examination and concluded he may have been suffering from post-covid vertigo and was given codeine.” However, when Kane was too poorly to play football, his parents took him to A&E at Leighton Hospital in Crewe, report Liverpool Echo.
Nicki, a mum-of-two, said “she knew something wasn’t right” as Kane was holding his head and “rocking in agony”. Nicki had also noticed a dent at the back of his head. Kane was booked into the assessment ward at the hospital but had a seizure the next day.
An MRI scan revealed an acute hydrocephalus - a build-up of pressure on the brain caused by excess cerebrospinal fluid - and a large tumour. Kane was rushed in an ambulance to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital for life-saving surgery.
Nicki said: “Steve and I followed in the car - it was the longest 50 minutes of our lives. When we got there we barely spent any time with Kane before we were asked to sign the consent forms for his surgery.”
After a seven-and-a-half hour operation the “amazing” surgeon, Mr Mallucci, managed to remove the hydrocephalus - and the histology report confirmed the tumour was non-cancerous. But the teenager had to go back under the knife soon after when after his hydrocephalus flared up again.
Kane had a spinal drain inserted and was bound to lying flat for five days. Kane’s parents stayed in Alder Hey’s Ronald McDonald house during his two hospital stays.
Nicki said: “We were assured there was a bed for us at the house and we could stay there for as long as we needed to. To be staying on the site of the hospital just a short walk away from Kane was incredible. The house is amazing and provides a place to call home while families are going through the most difficult time of their lives.”
Keen to give something back, the Allcock family worked with Crewe FC and his school Shavington Academy to raise funds for Alder Hey Children’s Charity and Ronald McDonald House Charities UK. The combined fundraising total now stands at more than £3,000.
Philippa Bradbury, Regional Community Fundraiser at Ronald McDonald House Charities UK, said: “We were so sorry to hear all that Kane and his family have been through but pleased that he’s recovering well and that his prognosis is good.
“As a Charity, it is our pleasure to be able to support families like the Allcocks, helping to ease the financial and emotional burden of having a sick child in hospital. We’re so grateful to Crewe FC, Shavington Academy and to Kane’s family for raising vital funds for our Charity. Each year we help thousands of families stay close to their children in hospital. The money raised by Kane’s community will help us to continue our work to support more families like his.”
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