Boy from Herts becomes first ever young patient in the East to receive vital transplant at Addenbrooke's
15-year-old Will Grocott is the first ever patient in the East of England to receive a paediatric bone marrow transplant.
Last updated 28th Sep 2023
Will Grocott was first diagnosed with leukaemia in 2021, before the cancer came back in what he calls "the sequel no one wanted".
At that point, Will needed a bone marrow transplant to survive, a vital tissue that can replace the unhealthy blood-forming cells with healthy ones.
His family started looking for a donor on the national register before Will's sister Libby, 17, stepped forward to donate tissues and save her brother's life.
Will said: "We've always been close. Now I like to say I can't get rid of her because she's always there."
The procedure is the first of its kind to take place in the East of England, making Will the very first young patient to receive a bone marrow transplant at Addenbrooke's Hospital's paediatric department.
Will's dad, Dan Grocott, said: "We didn't really know that he'd be the first one until quite late. It was the second best piece of news we got, the best one was most definitely when Libby matched."
"...You don't understand the brutality of child cancer until you live through it..."
CUH associate director of operations, Amanda Cahn, said: "We are thrilled to receive funding for this service, which will be of major value to young patients and their families from all over the East of England and further afield."
"It is the first unit of its kind in many years to be established in the UK and we are very grateful to NHSE for funding which relieves much of the heartache associated with travelling to other regional centres."
Prior to this procedure, young patients would have to be treated at other hospitals across the UK, including London, Bristol or Glasgow.
This was a huge advantage for Will's family, making hospital visits much easier, and enabling him to be looked after by a team they already knew and trusted.
Mr Grocott said: "I can't say how wonderful it is to have the hospital able to do it, and hopefully with the advances of the new children's hospital they'll do even more."
Childhood cancer is not only extremely difficult on the children suffering, but it puts a huge strain on parents looking after their child whilst working, often full time.
Will said: "In some ways it was easier for me than a lot of my family because I was asleep a lot of the time. There were days I just didn't wake up."
"I was looking for the right word to talk about childhood cancer", said Mr Grocott.
"You don't understand the brutality of child cancer until you live through it, and brutality is absolutely the right word", he added.
Mr Grocott is now hoping further steps can be taken to help support the families of ill children who are having to balance work with supporting their child in hospital.
He said: "I'd love to see us go further and being able to put parents on something similar the furlough scheme so that they can take that stress away from what is quite frankly one of the darkest times they're at."
"You're constantly being punched and pummelled, and challenged and tested."
Another concern for Mr Grocott are disparities found in patients able to access life-changing procedures.
He said: "One of the biggest issues is with the ethnic minorities."
"The ethnic minorities have a wider genetic difference within them and there is also fewer ethnic minority people on the registers, and as a consequence it's much more difficult to find matches."
Will's family is now hoping more people will now step forward to donate bone marrow, a procedure they assure is as quick and painless as a blood transfusion.