Thomas Hawkins
March 2016
In Summer 2015 we were posted to Cyprus as a family. My husband and I, Thomas and his 2 year old brother, this was when Thomas was a normal 5 year old.
After 12 weeks off us living there Thomas started to become ill, he was back and forth from the medical centre then got admitted into hospital with pneumonia, once he was well again he was discharged. We thought this was the end off it.
Little did we know all the symptoms came back again. This time the doctors thought he had swallowed a piece off Lego or something, he was re-admitted into the hospital again. Nothing seamed to be making our little boy better. After two weeks the doctors got a specialist to come and see him, he thought it best to move him to a intensive care unit at the other side off the island. Once we was there he had a CT scan and that is when we got the terrible new that he had a mass on his windpipe. At this point we were given the choice to fly back to England or stay in Cyprus. Once we made the decision to return to the UK the Army welfare, my husband’s bosses and close friends where brilliant helping us. Just five days later the AeroMed team flew to come and pick Thomas and myself up from the hospital in Cyprus to fly us back to Oxford, here Thomas could go under care at the John Radcliff.
Once we got to the hospital in Oxford we were informed that Thomas has a tumor called myofiberblast in his windpipe, after countless tests and operations every few weeks and Chemo once a week, everything seems to be going okay for our Little Trooper. He is still a long way from being better, but the chemo is working and every day is a step on the road to recovery.
Thomas’s step father is currently serving in the British Army.
Louise Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers says “Thomas is so so brave his story truly touched our hearts, we hope this award puts a little smile on his face. Little Troopers sends all the love and strength in the world to this special family and we wish Thomas a speedy recovery”
