Brave Lachlan Thoroughgood fights a brain tumour: How you can help

LACHLAN Thoroughgood was an active, popular, sporty six-year-old who, in August, started getting headaches.

One doctor said it was asthma. Another said it was sinus. The third sent him to the hospital for a CT scan, where they saw just what was causing his pain — a brain tumour bigger than his fist.

Lachlan was rapidly booked in for surgery at Sydney Children’s Hospital to remove the giloblastoma tumour, and is now back home on the NSW south coast — and doing so well he has returned to school.
“He is cheeky, and we are so lucky he woke up from surgery the same little boy he was, bright-eyed and keeping the nurses entertained,” mum Leanne said.

“We got home a few weeks ago and this is his first week back at school. It is blowing our minds how well he is doing. It’s a big readjustment though. We spent two months with him around the clock and all of a sudden you have to stand at the door and wave goodbye.”

Ms Thoroughgood said the Nowra schoolboy had more than six weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy after his surgery, which left a scar from the top of his ear to the middle of his head.

“He will start another round of treatment soon,” Ms Thoroughgood, a radiographer, said. “You can hardly see the scar now, he has done remarkably well.”

The local community set up a Facebook page called Loving Lachlan, and have already raised more than $13,000 for their little friend.

“The mean survival rate is five years,” Ms Thoroughgood said. “We are living each day and he is vibrant and amazing.”

She said more government funding was needed to investigate the cause and treatment of brain cancer.

“I am a radiographer and even I didn’t realise how many people are affected by brain cancer.”

Originally published as Lachlan the brave fighting a brain tumour.

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