🔗 Share this article

Alison Gaffney and Fraser's father were given devastating news in 2018 when their toddler their child was found to have a uncommon form of childhood cancer.

An extended period of demanding therapies followed, comprising cancer medications, radiation therapy, and biological therapies before a cellular therapy. Fraser, then aged three, made a remarkable improvement from the surgery, with medical staff announcing the illness in regression.

During this period that the mother, aged thirty-six, began investigating explanations. She could not stop thinking about comments made by medical professionals at the time of her Fraser's condition. “We're tormented wondering how he got his illness,” a specialist had shared with her.

“We can't sleep wondering how our son got his cancer,” a specialist had informed her.

Historical Context

The botched disposal of vast quantities of toxic materials after the cessation of a major industrial facility in Corby in 1979 had “always been a known thing,” said Alison. A 2009 civil case connected the local authority's mismanagement of the site to a cluster of developmental issues in community youth during the twentieth century.

Gradually, Gaffney started to connect the circumstances to her own. “[His illness] is not hereditary,” she explained. “So what are the reasons? … It must be down to the community. So many children [with] illness.

“Each person here knows somebody who’s got a minor [with] illness. That's unusual.”

Community Action

The parents started to connect with additional households in their community with comparable experiences – among them some of Gaffney’s former classmates at a local school – and the organization began compiling detailed records on those involved. They now lead a initiative supporting about numerous households with situations of pediatric illness starting from 1988.

The organization has been calling on the municipal government to research any links between instances of childhood cancer in this community and the closure of the plant. Soon, medical experts are set to publish their study of whether the town has had a unusually high rate of instances of pediatric illness for its inhabitants of seventy thousand.

“Our only goal is to try and protect future people so they won't experience the pain that we’ve been through,” said the mother.

Historical Context

The ruling in the 2009 civil claim acknowledged that, between a fourteen-year period, vast quantities of toxic substances from the steel plant were relocated “typically” from the one area to a designated site in the northern section – with “large quantities” of hazardous materials transported and deposited on community streets and “large volumes” of particulate matter created by the cleanup.

However, it also mentioned findings from the environmental authorities in 1997 that found accumulations of toxic substances that had been left at Deene Quarry were later taken away in “large quantities”.

Growing Suspicions

Gaffney believes toxic substances was not only dumped at the primary location but in other parts of the community. In recent developments, she applauded a “important advancement” after municipal government said it would test soil that could be tainted and investigate where hazardous materials was dumped.

The mother said local officials acknowledged in the meeting that they were unaware where the areas of contaminated waste could be. “They said: ‘We lack information where these areas are. Documentation is missing, we possess no information.’”

Community Support

The government declaration was also embraced by Tonia Shalgosky, a educational worker at a primary school, whose school-aged girl, Bella, was confirmed to have blood cancer in recent months.

“I had to shave my young child's scalp because her tresses was coming out from the medications she had to take to eliminate her cancer. Consequently it’s in the community's concern, it’s in the child's wellbeing [for the council] to disclose that knowledge,” she said.

“Numerous residents in the community that have been confirmed to have childhood cancer and I just feel it’s impossible to overlook – it requires investigation. This is unusual.”

Personal Stories

Another resident, aged thirty-one, who has a professional career and now resides elsewhere, said households earned “absolute honesty and clarity” from the government.

The woman's 11-year-old sister, her sister, succumbed on a specific date after being found to have a specific illness at the young age. The girl, who fundraised for medical research, was “among the lovable, entertaining and compassionate” persons, she recalled.

Her parent recollects the effect of the closure of the steel plant on the town, Lyons explained. “She mentioned you could not position your hand in ahead of you because [of] the red ash.”

“This has been going on since I was approximately about three years old. It’s an excessive amount of time and it is negligence toward the people of Corby.”

Previous Involvement

A relative, a local resident, was one of several households participating in the 2009 claim against the previous administration after her newborn was born with clubfoot. Her spouse, the man, was one of the vehicle operators participating in removing waste from the manufacturing facility. Their story was depicted in a television program, and showed the mother beating the debris from her husband’s jeans.

Gaffney said the organization has been approached by whistleblowers who were responsible for the dumping of materials in the community.