George's Story

'Gorgeous George’ Fox
George is our middle child, a proud big brother to Isabella who is just 19 months younger, and the adoring younger brother of Jamie. George is funny, bright, kind and determined and as he’s so gorgeous both inside and out he’s been nicknamed ‘Gorgeous George’ since the day he was born on 15th November 2008.
In April 2021 George suddenly had excruciating headaches that appeared out of nowhere, followed by bouts of vomiting which we were told were migraines. After 3 weeks of taking him to the GP, A&E, the opticians, calling an ambulance and begging for an MRI, George was booked in for an MRI on 29th April at our local hospital.
We never made it home from hospital that evening. They discovered that George had a 5cm brain tumour, and we were blue-lighted to Addenbrookes hospital to meet the neurosurgery team. Matt wasn’t allowed with us due to Covid restrictions and George and I were both very scared.
On 5th May 2021, George had his first 10 hour brain surgery. He bounced back, and was home 3 days later – no one could believe it. The team said they had sent the tumour off for testing and we would be called for an appointment to find out what would happen next.
On 19th May 2021, we were told that at just 12 years old, George had a Glioblastoma brain tumour. A word we had never, ever heard of but one that would devastate our family forever. We were told that they were unusual in children, but known as the ‘terminator’ tumour in adults. There were no survivors and that we should go and make some memories as his life expectancy was around 12 months. Whilst we were told this George had been asked to sit outside the door, and was texting me saying he was scared.
Our lives fell apart. We are a close knit family, and George is a huge part of that. He’s not only adored as a son… but as a brother, a grandson, a nephew, a cousin and also an amazingly loyal and kind friend. How could we even begin to imagine life without him? It’s an unbearable thought.
George endured a gruelling 6 weeks cycle of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to try and hold the Grade 4, and stage 4 brain tumour at bay. Before we even started this cycle of treatment, and just 5 weeks after surgery, George’s tumour had regrown to full size. They told us it was the most aggressive they had ever known. Thankfully radiotherapy seemed to shrink his tumour and hold it at bay for a couple of months so we could make some memories. Over the next few months George endured more than most of us will ever face, always with a smile on his face and a bravery that we can’t express. Countless MRI’s (around 25), such frequent blood tests that his veins all started collapsing and they couldn’t get blood, various chemo’s, painful immunotherapy injections in Germany and a failed clinical trial in Los Angeles.
We nearly lost him a couple of times and he had to have 3 emergency brain surgeries all lasting around 10 hours, plus a brain surgery for a shunt to be fitted. Whilst all of this was happening we tried to make as many memories as we could and searched for and prayed for a miracle.
On 1st April 2022, we were told there was no more treatment for George and the tumour had spread all over his brain. We had to take our little boy home, faced with the knowledge that we probably didn’t have long left. On 12th April 2022 at 11.45pm our little boy slowly slipped away from this world, surrounded by his loving family.
Our lives will never be the same, so we are so grateful for this time at Ben’s Retreat, to spend with family, supporting each other and trying to create some smiles in his memory. This is what he would have wanted.
Thank you for the opportunity Ben and Ben’s family.
Louise Fox
Mum of Gorgeous George Fox #Forever13