Gravesend’s Aaron Lindridge celebrates 16th birthday after fighting rare cancer as a toddler

A teenager who fought a rare type of cancer and won when he was just two years old has now celebrated a milestone birthday.

Aaron Lindridge was diagnosed with a condition known as rhabdomyosarcoma three days before Christmas in 2011.

His parents, Tracy and Mar,k first knew something was wrong as the then-toddler would shake and scream in pain whenever he tried to sit down or use the toilet.

They immediately took him to the doctors who initially thought it was a urine infection but as his condition dramatically worsened he was admitted to Darent Valley Hospital, in Dartford, and put on antibiotics.

He was then transferred to Evelina London Children’s Hospital and following several ultrasounds and MRI scans, a tumour was found attached to his prostate.

Speaking to KentOnline, Tracy said: “I just thought something was not right and I knew it was cancer. When we first heard about it, there was nobody we could talk to about it.”

Mark added: “They took us off into a room and said they had found a tumour. It did take its toll and he went downhill quickly.

“I remember it was pancake day in 2012 and it was the worst I had ever seen him. It was one of the toughest days.”

Rhabdomyosarcoma is a soft tissue cancer that affects fewer than 60 children in the UK every year and the cause is unknown.

Aaron started chemotherapy in January 2012 which successfully shrunk his tumour from the size of a baked bean can to the size of a bar of soap.

However, to remove all traces of the cancer the youngster needed a form of radiotherapy, known as proton radiotherapy, which is more direct and targets the minutest cells.

The treatment was not available in the UK then and was only an option in Florida or Oklahoma, in America, so they flew to the latter.

Recalling that time, Tracy, 47, said: “Aaron was so young and we had to leave everything behind.”

Mark added: “It is hard at the time to go through it. We had to trust the NHS and the doctors and we were lucky that everything worked for Aaron.”

When in America, Aaron had around 45 minutes of proton radiotherapy every day from Monday to Friday as well as chemotherapy for three months.

The treatment was funded by the NHS, however, the family needed to find a way to cover their day-to-day expenses, pay their mortgage back home and be able to take their seven-year-old daughter Emily with them.

At the time, the Lindridge family was living in Riverview, near Gravesend, and their neighbours launched fundraisers, including quiz nights and roller discos, and every shop had charity pots on their counters.

KentOnline’s sister paper the Gravesend Messenger also ran the campaign Help Aaron Smile which raised £9,000 in less than two months.

Mark said he even had strangers recognising him in the streets who would come up to him and hand him a cheque or cash.

The 57-year-old added: “It was hard for us because Aaron was going through his treatment but the community did so much for us it made things a lot easier.

“You do feel alone and by yourself as a family but the community just came together and did so much for us. We could not thank all of them enough for what they did.

“We have been lucky that the treatment worked and he is here now. We still want to thank Riverview and all who helped us.”

The former Riverview Infants School student’s intensive treatment was successful and he was in remission by September 2012.

Five years later he was given the all-clear by his doctors, which meant the cancer is unlikely to come back, although he does suffer from pelvic radiation disease, which affects his bowel, bladder and mobility.

The keen footballer for Riverview Rangers celebrated his 16th birthday this month and is now in Year 11 and studying for his GCSEs at Thamesview School.

Mark, who has recently battled with thyroid cancer, said: “His life would have been so different if he had not had the treatment. We were lucky that they said he could go and it would work for him.

“It has not held him back at all and he did not miss out on anything.”

The family, who now live in Freeman Road, Gravesend, want to share Aaron’s story again to help others who may be going through a similar experience that there is hope for the future.

Tracy added: “There are positive cases out there for people going through the same. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.”