🔗 Share this article

Alison Gaffney and Andy Hinde received devastating news in 2018 when their toddler their baby was confirmed to have a uncommon form of childhood cancer.

Two years of intensive medical care came next, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immune system treatments before a stem cell transplant. Fraser, then aged three, made a remarkable improvement from the procedure, with medical staff confirming the disease in remission.

During this period that the mother, in her mid-thirties, began seeking causes. She could not stop thinking about comments made by medical professionals at the time of her son’s diagnosis. “We lose sleep wondering how he got his illness,” a specialist had told her.

“It keeps us up at night wondering how he got his cancer,” a consultant had shared with her.

Background Information

The improper handling of vast quantities of hazardous substances after the shutdown of a major industrial facility in this community in 1979 had “long been recognized,” said Gaffney. A legal proceeding connected the improper remediation efforts of the site to a series of developmental issues in town residents during the twentieth century.

Gradually, Alison started to connect the circumstances to her own. “[The disease] is not hereditary,” she stated. “What's the explanation? … It’s got to be down to the community. Numerous young people [with] illness.

“Everybody in this town knows someone who’s got a child [with] the disease. This isn't typical.”

Collective Efforts

Alison and Andy started to reach out to other families in their community with comparable experiences – including some of Alison's past schoolmates at their former educational institution – and the group began compiling detailed records on those impacted. They now lead a campaign advocating for about 130 families with situations of childhood cancer dating back to 1988.

The collective has been pressuring the municipal government to research any links between occurrences of childhood cancer in this community and the closure of the facility. Soon, health authorities are preparing to share their evaluation of whether the town has had a disproportionate number of occurrences of pediatric illness for its population of 70,000.

“Our only goal is to work to secure future people so they can avoid the suffering that we've endured,” said Alison.

Historical Context

The decision in the legal case recognized that, between 1983 and 1997, vast quantities of hazardous waste from the steel plant were relocated “typically” from the southern part of town to a specific location in the northern section – with “large quantities” of hazardous materials transported and deposited on community streets and “considerable amounts” of airborne particles generated by the reclamation.

Nonetheless, it also mentioned documents from the environmental authorities in 1997 that identified collections of hazardous waste that had been deposited at Deene Quarry were later removed in “substantial volumes”.

Expanding Concerns

Gaffney believes contaminated materials was not exclusively placed at the primary location but in additional areas of the town. Lately, she approved a “significant progress” after municipal government said it would test land that could be polluted and research where toxic waste was deposited.

The mother said government representatives confirmed in the meeting that they did not know where the areas of toxic materials could be. “They said: ‘We don’t know where these areas are. We have no documentation, we possess no information.’”

Public Endorsement

The official statement was also welcomed by a community member, a pastoral lead at a primary school, whose young child, Bella, was found to have leukaemia in recent months.

“I needed to cut my nine-year-old daughter's head because her locks was coming out from the drugs she had to take to eliminate her illness. So actually it’s in everyone's benefit, it’s in Bella’s interest [for the council] to reveal that knowledge,” she explained.

“Numerous people in the town that have been found to have pediatric illness and I believe it’s impossible to overlook – it needs looking at. This isn't typical.”

Individual Accounts

A community member, aged thirty-one, who works in sales and now has moved away, said parents merited “full transparency and openness” from the local authority.

Her family member, Eve, passed away on in recent years after being confirmed to have a specific illness at the childhood. Her sister, who collected money for medical research, was “among the charming, funniest and caring” individuals, she said.

Her family member recollects the effect of the shutdown of the industrial facility on the town, Lyons stated. “She mentioned you could not position your hand in before you because [of] the particulate matter.”

“This has been going on since I’ve probably been about early childhood. This duration is unreasonable and it is carelessness toward the community members.”

Previous Involvement

Another family member, a local resident, was part of multiple households involved in the court proceeding against the former government after her baby was had a foot condition. Her husband, the man, was a member of the vehicle operators participating in handling substances from the industrial site. Their experience was depicted in a recent series, and showed Maggie removing the dust from her spouse's clothing.

Alison said the collective has been reached out to by individuals with information who were participating in the placement of substances in the area.