A Rochdale mum has shared her fears that her five-year-old son would die on a cancer ward while she was giving birth to his brother. Fauzia Ashraf, 32, and husband Mohsin Ahmed were forced to say goodbye to their son Saqib just 13 days after bringing his brother into the family.
The couple were excited to welcome their third son and sibling for Aqib, then seven, Saqib, four, into the world, when Saqib was diagnosed with a rare brain tumour.
There were just 10 weeks between his first symptom and his tragic death just two weeks after his fifth birthday. "As I gave birth to my baby, my biggest fear was having to leave my five-year-old son on the children's cancer ward and him dying without his mummy by his side,” the mother and history teacher said.
"I was not in that room present for the new life I was bringing into the world. "Instead of being excited about meeting my baby, all I could see was Saqib’s beautiful face as I prayed he wouldn’t die while I was in labour."
Now Fauzia is sharing her son’s story through The Brain Tumour Charity to help raise awareness about brain tumours, and is backing The Charity’s HeadSmart campaign which highlights common symptoms of children’s brain tumours .
The family’s nightmare started in the school summer holidays last year, when Saqib starting having sporadic headaches. A week after he started suffering headaches, Saqib was dribbling and a few days after that, he suddenly became frightened of using the stairs.
"The changes happened so rapidly and in that time I made contact six times with GPs,” said Fauzia. "I felt fobbed off and unheard. They made me feel like the ‘crazy mum’ who was worried for no reason.”
"Being pregnant, I was hesitant to go to the hospital myself in the pandemic but my every instinct told me something was very wrong,” said Fauzia.
On August 13, 2021, Fauzia made contact for the sixth time with a GP in three weeks. The GP rang Royal Oldham Hospital while Fauzia was in the room. Fauzia was told to go to the hospital urgently.
Saqib had a CT scan and was diagnosed with brain cancer. "I couldn’t take it in," Fauzia said. "Saqib was singing and jumping on and off the bed. How could he have brain cancer? It had to be a mistake.”
The following evening, they were transferred to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, where Fauzia and Mohsin stayed with their son for seven weeks.
They were told Saqib’s tumour was a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), which was inoperable and incurable – no child in the world had ever survived it.
"I could not believe there was no hope for our little boy and that he’d been handed a death sentence," Fauzia said.
That day, Saqib’s tumour had a massive bleed, leaving him paralysed and unable to speak.
"In a matter of days, I had already started to lose him and I can’t remember what my little chatter box’s last words to me were," Fauzia said. Saqib was too ill to have radiotherapy and he was placed on end-of-life care.
"Earlier diagnosis wouldn’t have saved Saqib’s life but he may have been well enough to have radiotherapy and give him precious extra time with us and his baby brother,” said Fauzia.
"Just weeks before, he was a healthy, happy little boy, now we were caring for a severely disabled child. The progress of DIPG was aggressive, fast and relentless.
On Saqib’s fifth birthday - September 19, 2021 –the family had a "bittersweet” celebration around his bed. The next day, Fauzia was induced and gave birth to Atif the following day, September 21, 2021.
Fauzia and Mohsin, 32, had special permission to take their new-born son up to the children’s cancer ward to meet Saqib. "We should have been at home, not on a cancer ward but it still felt special to have all our boys together that night,” she said.
Just 13 days after his baby brother was born, Saqib’s condition deteriorated and he died on October 4, 2021. "My little love left this world with his mummy and daddy at his side like we’d promised,” said Fauzia.
"I’m still in shock that within two weeks I gave birth to one child and lost another."
Supporting The Brain Tumour Charity’s HeadSmart campaign in her son’s memory helps give her purpose.
"I give out the HeadSmart symptoms cards to family, friends and every parent I meet,” said Fauzia, who has also had support from Abbie’s Army DIPG charity and a Muslim bereavement service, Children of Jannah.
"If I can help save one parent the pain of losing a child, it’s worth it,’ said Fauzia.
Alex Lochrane, The Brain Tumour Charity’s CEO, said: "The loss of a child is every parent’s darkest nightmare, and words cannot express our sorrow for Fauzia and Mohsin’s loss of their son.
"Progress for children diagnosed with DIPGs is desperately needed, which is why we are proud to have been co-funding the BIOMEDE clinical trial along with Cancer Research UK."
