A Scots mum has told how she frantically brought her wedding forward to ensure she had the same surname as her baby son before he lost his brave brain tumour battle. Kate Goodall, from Dumfries, welcomed little Jacob into the world in 2016 with husband Andy but soon noticed that he was struggling with acid reflux problems.
After taking him to hospital, a consultant noticed the youngster had slight facial paralysis because when he cried as one of his eyes didn’t fully close. He was also breathing noisily and had an obstructed airflow.
He was just four weeks old when medics confirmed he had an extremely rare atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumour. Medics were able to remove 95 per cent of the mass but broke the news that Jacob had a very slim chance of survival as he spent three weeks hooked up to a ventilator.
The couple were due to tie the knot with festival-themed nuptials in 2017 but instead got hitched during a small ceremony after being granted a special dispensation from the Registrar General.
Mum Kate, who works in publishing, said: “This is something usually only reserved for serving military and terminally ill adults, but if we were going to lose Jacob, I didn’t want him to go with a different surname to mine.
“It meant so much to all of us to be able to do it. Jacob had an ultrasound scan, and we were told they had found a mass on his brain which they believed was a brain tumour. He was only four-and-a-half weeks old.
“Although hoping for the best, I think in my heart of hearts, I knew we were going to lose him. They said Jacob had a very slim chance of survival, but they wanted to operate on him. In early September, Jacob underwent his surgery.
“They managed to remove 95% of the tumour, far more than they thought they could achieve, which gave us some hope.”
In October, Kate and Andy, who lived in Portsmouth at the time, managed to drive Jacob to Kate’s hometown of Dumfries to see her parents, grandpa and wider family and friends. “That was hugely important to me; we had a lot of laughs and fun, but it was also very emotional.
“At one point, my papa was cuddling Jacob and I noticed he had turned blue, there was clearly something not right and, goodness knows where it came from, but the training kicked in and we kept him going with CPR until the ambulance arrived,” Kate said.
Jacob was taken to Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary where he stayed for two weeks after it emerged he had bronchiolitis. In mid-November, Jacob was back at home when again he struggled to breathe and needed to be resuscitated followed by an MRI scan.
Kate added: “The scan showed the tumour was back, and it was bigger than the initial tumour. They also found a tumour on his kidney. At that point, we knew it was over.” On 24 November 2016, Jacob died peacefully in the arms of his loving parents.
The brave mum will soon embark on the 10,000 Steps a Day in February challenge to raise vital funds for Brain Tumour Research. She said: “I want to do this for Jacob, it’s so important to me.
“If just one penny I raise helps other families avoid the heartbreak we’ve been through, then it’s worth it. Hopefully, the wee guy will be with me every step of the way.”
Matthew Price, community development manager at Brain Tumour Research said: "We’re so sorry to learn that baby Jacob died at such a young age from a brain tumour.
"We’re really grateful to Kate for taking on the 10,000 Steps a Day in February challenge as it’s only with the support of people like her that we’re able to progress our research into brain tumours and improve the outcome for patients like Jacob who are forced to fight this awful disease."
To donate to Kate’s fundraiser, please click here.
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