Liam's story – bone cancer

Liam was diagnosed with osteoblastic osteosarcoma, bone cancer, when he was 13 years old in 2020 after feeling a lump in his knee. Once he finished chemotherapy, Liam was able to return to school, but he relapsed in June 2021 and the cancer spread to both lungs.

Liam shared his story on his YouTube channel which has nearly 10,000 followers, to show others who are going through cancer what to expect.

Liam was a typical teenager: sporty, loved being with his friends and playing football. However, after discovering a lump in his knee he stopped wanting to be active and doing the things he enjoyed. His mum, Jodie, thought it might be a pulled ligament, but they decided to go to the GP and were referred to hospital. After having scans taken, the consultant shared the serious news with his mum.

"They said unfortunately he’s got bone cancer. And I was just taken back – there’s no words that can describe how it feels to be told your child has got cancer. Your whole world just crumbles."

The tumour was growing in his knee and had started to spread to other parts of his body. Liam started chemotherapy, doxorubicin, Cisplatin and methotrexate that month. In September 2020, he had surgery on his leg and, initially, they were not sure if he would lose his leg.

He started physiotherapy the next day and was going in for rehabilitation every week with gym work, balance work and hydrotherapy. He was still having chemotherapy, but this was stopped in December 2020 due to infections.

"They did warn us about side effects, his mouth was so blistered, and he couldn’t eat. At the worst point he went 10 days without eating or drinking.

"He was so drawn and so pale and he looked so poorly – I thought he doesn’t look like my child – it was so hard."

They nearly lost Liam due to sepsis and the decision was made to stop the chemotherapy at this point.

After finishing the chemotherapy, Liam was able to return to school, but unfortunately, relapsed in June 2021. He had more treatment but sadly passed away in May 2022.