🔗 Share this article

A local mother and Andy Hinde faced devastating information in 2018 when their 17-month-old their child was diagnosed with a rare type of leukaemia.

24 months of gruelling treatment followed, involving cancer medications, targeted radiation, and biological therapies before a cellular therapy. Fraser, at three years old, made a remarkable improvement from the procedure, with medical staff confirming the illness in recovery.

As Fraser improved that Alison, 36, began investigating answers. She could not stop thinking about observations made by medical professionals at the time of her son’s diagnosis. “We're tormented wondering how our son got his cancer,” a consultant had told her.

“It keeps us up at night wondering how Fraser got his illness,” a specialist had informed her.

Past Events

The botched disposal of vast quantities of toxic materials after the cessation of a major industrial facility in this community in 1979 had “always been a known thing,” said Alison. A court ruling connected the local authority's mismanagement of the site to a string of congenital abnormalities in town residents during the 1980s and 1990s.

Over time, the concerned mother started to associate the case to her own. “[His illness] is not hereditary,” she stated. “What's the explanation? … It’s got to be down to the area. All these kids [with] cancer.

“Each person here is acquainted with a person who’s got a youngster [with] the disease. That's unusual.”

Community Action

Alison and Andy started to contact more parents in their community with parallel situations – among them some of the mother's ex-school friends at their former educational institution – and the collective began compiling thorough information on those impacted. They now head a initiative representing about many parents with situations of pediatric illness starting from 1988.

The collective has been urging the local authority to investigate any links between occurrences of pediatric illness in the town and the decommissioning of the facility. Soon, medical experts are set to publish their analysis of whether the town has had a elevated incidence of cases of youth disease for its residents of 70,000.

“Our only goal is to work to secure coming generations so they do not have to endure the suffering that we've experienced,” said Alison.

Historical Context

The ruling in the 2009 civil claim acknowledged that, between the 1980s and 1990s, vast quantities of hazardous waste from the manufacturing site were moved “almost invariably” from the one area to Deene Quarry in the opposite end – with “significant amounts” of toxic waste transported and dropped on local thoroughfares and “large volumes” of airborne particles produced by the cleanup.

However, it also referenced reports from the Environment Agency in 1997 that identified accumulations of contaminated material that had been deposited at the site were later taken away in “large quantities”.

Additional Issues

Gaffney maintains toxic substances was not merely deposited at the main disposal area but in different locations of the municipality. In recent developments, she applauded a “significant progress” after municipal government said it would test soil that could be tainted and research where toxic waste was disposed of.

Alison said government representatives acknowledged in the meeting that they did not know where the sites of hazardous substances could be. “They explained: ‘We don’t know where these areas are. We have no documentation, we possess no information.’”

Community Support

The council’s announcement was also welcomed by Tonia Shalgosky, a school staff member at a elementary institution, whose nine-year-old daughter, the child, was confirmed to have a hematologic malignancy in the summer.

“I needed to cut my young child's scalp because her locks was falling out from the treatments she had to use to eliminate her disease. Consequently it’s in our interest, it’s in the child's wellbeing [for the council] to share that data,” she said.

“There are so many residents in the area that have been diagnosed with pediatric illness and I just feel it’s too much to ignore – it requires investigation. This is unusual.”

Individual Accounts

Meg Lyons, aged thirty-one, who is employed in business and now lives in London, said households deserved “absolute honesty and openness” from the council.

Her family member, Eve, passed away on in recent years after being diagnosed with a uncommon malignancy at the age of nine. The girl, who fundraised for medical research, was “exceptionally charming, funniest and compassionate” persons, she recalled.

Her mother recalls the consequence of the shutdown of the steel plant on the community, the woman said. “She mentioned you could not position your hand in ahead of you because [of] the particulate matter.”

“These issues have continued since I’ve probably been about three years old. It’s an excessive amount of time and it is carelessness toward the people of Corby.”

Previous Involvement

Another family member, a community member, was one of several parents involved in the legal case against the then Corby council after her newborn was diagnosed with clubfoot. Her partner, her partner, was a member of the vehicle operators involved in handling substances from the industrial site. Their experience was portrayed in a media production, and showed the woman beating the particles from her spouse's clothing.

Alison said the organization has been reached out to by individuals with information who were participating in the placement of waste in the community.