'It was just me and Bobby': Mum's heartbreak as baby's sore leg became fatal
18.03.2023 - 23:43
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
The moment Georgia Barber heard the word ‘tumour’ leave the doctor’s mouth, the entire hospital room started spinning.
She had only taken her son Bobby in for a sore leg. The single mum noticed the 15-month-old had a limp and was dragging himself across the floor.
Medics initially thought Bobby had a fracture and sent him home in a cast. But when the pain continued, Georgia knew it was something sinister – refusing to leave A&E until tests were carried out.
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Her worst fears were realised after the pair were sent to Manchester Children’s Hospital. There, doctors found a tumour in Bobby's pelvis. It had grown through his spinal cord and caused nerve damage to his right leg.
The tot, from Rochdale, was immediately started on a chemotherapy course. After several weeks, there was a glimmer of hope. Bobby’s condition had improved drastically.
He was able to stand up by himself, walk using a Zimmer frame and Georgia could finally change his nappy without him being in complete agony.
But, in an unimaginably cruel twist of fate, a year after his diagnosis in May 2022, that familiar limp returned. Doctors said it might have been caused by stents in Bobby’s legs – but Georgia just knew.
A scan confirmed Bobby’s tumour had returned. Though he was immediately given new chemotherapy treatment, the tot was not getting better. He was in so much pain during the last two months of his life that he had to have an epidural.
Tragically, Bobby died on September 4, 2022. He was just two-years-old.
“It was absolutely awful,” Georgia said, recalling her son’s last days. “I knew when I was in that hospital room, I had to have positive vibes