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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Abigail Nicholson & Sophie Halle-Richards

Mum-of-six 'knew something wasn't right' with her toddler after noticing he was running differently

A mum's fear that something "wasn't right" with her toddler turned out to be a brain tumour.

Rachel Porter, 34, claims her two and a half year old son, Luca, was sent home from hospital twice before doctors diagnosed him.

She took her son to Alder Hey Hospital on September 4 after she noticed her son wasn't running right, the ECHO reports.

READ MORE: Charlotte felt wiped out walking round Tesco - she knew something wasn't right

Doctors ran tests on Luca but didn't find anything wrong with him and referred him to an orthopaedic doctor.

Just two days later Rachel and Dad, David Pennell, 36, then noticed Luca's right eye was 'lazy' and took him back to Alder Hey.

Again, they said everything was okay and sent them home.

Over the weekend Luca did not get better and Rachel took him to Ormskirk Hospital.

Luca loves playing football with his brothers (Rachel Porter)

"I knew something wasn't right so we took him to Ormskirk Hospital. I told them I wanted a CT scan," she said.

"After the CT scan they told me Luca had a brain tumour and referred me back to Alder Hey and they were absolutely brilliant."

On September 21 Luca was diagnosed with a mid brain/upper brain stem tumour (grade I) and Alder Hey booked him in for surgery to remove it.

Rachel, who has five other children, said she was "daunted" when she was told about her son's diagnosis.

"I was on my own when they told me, it's turned my life upside down. You just have to put on a brave face for the kids and for Luca," she said.

"They got the whole tumour out in the surgery but there was a complication of mutism which means he has a tremor. We don't know if his eye will return back (to normal)."

Luca stayed at Alder Hey for 11 weeks and Rachel said their care was "second to none".

She added: "They were absolutely brilliant with him and the family, the surgeon was amazing and they never left him alone for more than five minutes.

"He's now home and we're adjusting to that. We now have MRI's every three months to make sure everything is okay. He's progressing really well."

Rachel now wants to raise awareness to other parents to make sure they know the side affects of brain tumours so they can look out for symptoms in their kids.

She has shared a video showing how Luca was running days before his brain tumour was diagnosed to raise awareness.

Luca started losing his balance in September 2021 (Rachel Porter)

"Vomiting, issues with eyes and weakness with balances are all side affects people should be looking out for," she said.

"I would also tell parents to keep on going, not take no for an answer and trust their mothers instinct."

Once Luca returned home occupational therapy came to risk asses the family-of-eight's home to make sure it was safe.

The team said the home was too small and not safe enough for Luca, so the family have been forced to move home.

Rachel's friends asked if they would be able to fundraise to make sure the families new home was up to scratch, as he would be spending a lot of time on the floor.

The GoFundMe has raised £540 in four days and Rachel said she was '"overwhelmed" by the support.

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