Tommy-Rae's family speak about their little boy and the need for more research into children's cancer

Express & Star

The family of a poorly Wednesbury boy, Tommy-Rae, speak about him, his love for the ocean and the need for more Cancer Research money to be diverted to Children's Cancer.

Transcript

00:00 So how does it feel that everyone's outside here today?

00:04 Amazing. Everybody's done fantastic.

00:07 Fantastic.

00:08 And it's just, you know, it's like a big family around here, isn't it?

00:12 It is definitely family. Everybody is family.

00:16 And we've done so much for our community as well,

00:19 and for them to give it back to us like this.

00:22 This is above and beyond.

00:23 Yeah.

00:24 We've seen Delilah.

00:26 And Shannon was saying, Tommy, he's the riding, isn't he, on Delilah?

00:30 Yes.

00:31 He's a big animal lover, isn't he, Tommy?

00:33 Yes.

00:34 We ride the horse. We're more on the same field as Shannon.

00:36 We're more together.

00:37 Yeah.

00:38 Oh, you've got a horse as well?

00:39 Yeah, yeah.

00:40 Yeah.

00:41 Shannon's Tommy's horse, yeah.

00:42 Yeah, yeah.

00:43 But yeah, if you give me your details,

00:46 we'll send you some pictures out for Tommy on the horse.

00:49 Yeah.

00:50 Tommy's a very, very big animal lover.

00:52 He loves everything animal-orientated.

00:54 Just had his birthday, we had a massive animal show.

00:58 We had a bearded giant dragon the size of the bathtub.

01:03 We had leaping frogs.

01:05 There was children everywhere.

01:07 Every animal, snake, everything you can think of

01:10 was in this living room in Kitchi.

01:12 What's his favourite animal, would you say?

01:14 He likes the hogs.

01:15 He likes the dragon.

01:16 Yeah, I saw that.

01:17 Oh, has he got a bearded? Oh, he's got his own lizard.

01:19 Yeah, yeah. He's just lying there having a sneeze.

01:21 He's got a pig, he's got a water dragon.

01:23 He's got dogs.

01:24 Dogs, he's...

01:25 Yeah.

01:26 When did you know that he was really into animals?

01:29 How could you tell when?

01:31 From a young age.

01:32 We had a dog when I was pregnant with Tommy,

01:34 I brought a dog, and then...

01:36 Tommy's just had a dog every year since.

01:38 Yeah.

01:39 He loves the ocean as well.

01:41 He studies everything.

01:42 Hence the sea theme on the window.

01:44 Yeah, if you do him, you just come around him

01:47 and he'll be like, "That's a crap."

01:49 He could tell you more about the ocean

01:51 than anybody in his group.

01:52 No way.

01:53 The teacher says, "We just can't believe it."

01:55 Yeah.

01:56 The doctors at the hospital, he's got tons of creatures

01:59 and he told everyone exactly what it is.

02:02 It's an orca, it's a shark, it's a white shark.

02:05 He can tell you the difference between every animal in the ocean.

02:08 Crabs.

02:09 No.

02:10 No.

02:11 He's a big, big...

02:14 He loves the ocean.

02:15 And he loves anything animal-y, doesn't he?

02:18 How did he...

02:19 What was his reaction when he met his little sister?

02:22 Not great.

02:27 Yeah.

02:28 It's the gelatine thing.

02:31 We did say, "Shall we take her back?"

02:33 And he said, "No."

02:35 No.

02:36 Did he?

02:37 Yeah, right.

02:38 Yeah.

02:39 He's got his own little...

02:40 He was excited to meet a big, big shark.

02:42 Yeah.

02:43 He was.

02:44 He was.

02:45 We've still got a rattly picture.

02:48 From a long time ago, before we even found out he was having a sister,

02:52 he told us he wants a sister and this rattles for his sister.

02:56 He is having a sister.

02:59 We'd better get a sister.

03:01 Yeah, yeah.

03:02 Maybe.

03:03 Yeah, he better have a family there.

03:05 Thank you.

03:06 Thank you all so much.

03:07 I really appreciate it.

03:08 For aiming for...

03:09 Go on.

03:10 Go on then, Nan.

03:11 Go on.

03:12 Literally 3% of all cancer research goes to children's brain tumours.

03:19 3%?

03:21 3%, which is nothing.

03:24 The chance of survival with a tumour of that is almost zero.

03:29 And why?

03:30 Why is that?

03:31 Since we've been in, in seven weeks,

03:33 we've probably seen 35 kids,

03:36 ranging from newborn babies to 16-year-olds.

03:40 They shouldn't have to go 18-year-olds.

03:43 They shouldn't be doing that.

03:45 We've got breast cancer, we've got screening.

03:48 Every other aspect of cancer is covered.

03:51 Why not these kids?

03:53 That's--we could be helped now, but everybody else can't.

03:57 That's our aim.

03:59 To raise more awareness about children and, you know,

04:02 even teenagers' brain tumours.

04:04 They need, they literally need more research.

04:07 There's no research.

04:09 So if there's no funds, there's no research,

04:12 why is an hospital having to raise funds

04:15 and pay companies to raise funds for them for an IMR on screen?

04:19 That money should be situated towards them.

04:23 Why should they have to keep fighting and raising money?

04:26 The government should just give it to our children.

04:28 It should--these are the children.

04:30 Why would we want to give it to a different country to get a war?

04:33 We've got our own kids, we'll go out and get cured.

04:36 No, it is ridiculous when you put it like that.

04:39 You've got a 4-year-old doing lovely,

04:41 he could have been a marine biologist,

04:43 he could have been saving you in 20 years' time.

04:46 But no, because there's nothing there for him, no awareness.

04:50 No, here we are.

04:52 No funding.

04:54 This is--if there's anything that our baby deserves,

04:58 it's to raise awareness for somebody else.

05:00 So that is our mission.

05:02 Good, I'm all for sharing that with them.

05:04 Yeah, I know.

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