Boy, 11, is diagnosed with brain cancer after he was accused of faking his stiff neck and tiredness

November 19, 2019  22:30

A boy whose doctor, teachers and parents believed he was lying about being ill was diagnosed with a cancerous brain cancer, Daily Mail reported.

Charlie Card, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was missing school regularly after complaining of not feeling well. 

From the beginning of the school year, the boy began to constantly miss classes at school, complaining of poor health. His teachers allegedly advised him to 'pull his socks up' because they grew fed up of him being off school. But the boy continued to complain of numbness in the neck and fatigue. Even his parents suspected that he was pretending to skip classes and play video games.

Doctors diagnosed Charlie with a mild virus and, after a period of treatment that did not give a result, advised him to consult a psychologist, deciding that the child had an anxiety disorder, against which he constantly lies about his symptoms.

After four months, the ophthalmologist noticed increased pressure on the nerves of the boy’s eyes during the examination - this is one of the most obvious symptoms of a brain tumor. Further studies confirmed that the boy did have a tumor. It turned out that this neoplasm grew within six months.

Charlie was sent for surgery, and surgeons removed most of the malignant tumor, after which he was waiting for a long course of radiation and chemotherapy.

Now his father, Gary Card, is asking other parents to never ignore children's complaints.

“Listen to the kids if they tell you they are not right. I say to this day that it was Charlie who got himself diagnosed because he wouldn't take no for an answer. Before he was so open, funny, had a wicked sense of humour but now he is a shell of his former self. He won't open up, he has lost so much weight, 90 per cent of his hair is gone including his eyebrows and his lips are dry and cracked. He is in constant pain,” he said.

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