Always remembering

Rupert

Smart and wise Rupert left an impression on everyone he met. He loved panto, dinosaurs and playing with his little sister, Margot. He passed away when he was 6 years old.

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Rupert’s story 

Rupert was a smart and wise little boy and always eager to impress. He left an impression on everyone he met. He loved shows, especially panto, dinosaurs and everything orange!

After a long wait and IVF, Rupert arrived in 2015, followed by his little sister, Margot, two years later.

In October 2019, Rupert's parents, Alice and Ollie, took him to their GP as he had no appetite and bouts of sickness over a couple of weeks. He was initially admitted to East Surrey Hospital with suspected appendicitis and then to the paediatric surgical unit at St George's Hospital, Tooting.

After an awful week of endless blood draws, scans and finally a biopsy, Rupert was diagnosed with a large retroperitoneal tumour, confirmed as high-risk neuroblastoma on 8th November 2019. He started chemotherapy the following day.

"Throughout all this treatment, Rupert thankfully remained his chatty, bossy self. He’d taken great interest in all his medical procedures and his party trick was to recite his name band info - full name, date of birth, hospital number and allergies."

Rupert’s mum, Alice

Starting treatment meant that Rupert spent his fourth birthday at the Royal Marsden in Sutton. Rupert endured eight rounds of Rapid COJEC protocol chemotherapy, a nine-hour surgery to remove his tumour, high-dose chemotherapy followed by a stem cell transplant and 12 sessions of radiotherapy. He completed his frontline treatment in January 2021.

As a result of chemotherapy, Rupert suffered some hearing loss and kidney damage and developed an allergy to platelet transfusions. He also experienced a lot of anxiety about food and eating.

Rupert's family were delighted when end-of-treatment scans in February 2021 showed that Rupert was 'no evidence of disease' - he was able to start school for the first time. In August 2021, during a family holiday, his parents noticed some swelling on his face and an ultrasound confirmed Rupert had relapsed. Rupert received further treatment, but sadly his disease progressed.

Rupert passed away surrounded by his loved ones on 24th August 2022.

"Ru left us very early yesterday. He stayed home and spent the last few days surrounded by family, but was in a lot of discomfort and not really with us. It was awful."

Rupert’s family

_{Donations made in loving memory of children}

_{Funds raised in loving memory of Rupert will be used to support other children like Rupert and their families through Solving Kids' Cancer UK's activities. Any funds raised through a previous fundraising campaign for access to treatment which were not spent on the child's treatment and pastoral needs are used to support other children and families through Solving Kids' Cancer UK's activities.}

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