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Mother of cancer boy Neon Roberts fears treatment will cause her to lose out on grandchildren

 

Kevin Rawlinson
Thursday 03 January 2013 18:12 GMT
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The mother whose child is to undergo potentially lifesaving radiotherapy against her wishes said she will appeal the High Court decision that it must go ahead, admitting today that she fears the treatment will cause her to lose out on grandchildren.

Sally Roberts fears “damage to the DNA” of her son Neon, who is suffering from a brain tumour, and wants to prevent him having the treatment, which is due to start next week after the High Court ruled last month in favour of doctors who argued it was essential. The seven-year-old’s father Ben, who is estranged from Mrs Roberts, supports the treatment.

“It should be my choice as I am the one who has to look after him,” she told ITV’s Daybreak. “I have always been his main carer, so why Ben has stepped up now is beyond me.”

Asked why she was opposed to the radiotherapy, the 37-year-old, who went on the run with her son in an earlier bid to stop him receiving treatment, said: “Just damaging the DNA, altering it. And him never recovering from it. Affecting his growth, leaving him infertile. No grandchildren is a big factor.”

Neon is living with his father while he undergoes it. His mother, who said she “wants what is best” for him, said she last saw him a couple of days ago and was not with him on Christmas Day. Mrs Roberts hit back at people who criticised her for going against medical advice, arguing that she had found doctors abroad who backed up her fears about radiotherapy.

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