Family of baby Jacob trial new drug to try to extend his life

  • Border

  • Video report by Matthew Taylor

A family from Penrith are hoping that a ground breaking drug can help prolong their baby son's life, and improve his quality of life.

Jacob Mortimer was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour when he was just 6 months old.

Despite undergoing surgery and chemotherapy his parents, Andrea and David, have been told the tumour is growing.

His Mum Andrea says he's been approved for a new treatment that has never been tried on children in the UK before.

She told ITV Border, "It's never been tried on children before in the UK. It's licenced in America but it's not for children over here. It's a tablet he'd have to have it crushed. Whether he would take it or not I don't know. Whether he would respond to it, we don't know. It might make it worse. But if it makes him worse we can take him off it. He might not respond to it at all. But we hope it might give him a bit longer."

Jacob's desease was only spotted in February by a sharp-eyed doctor at the Cumberland Infirmary after he'd been brought in with feeding problems.

Andrea said, "I just thought I was going in with a stomach bug maybe weaning. And they went 'can I measure his head?' 'Yeah.' so they did and he came back another twice. 'Can I measure it again?' 'Yeah.' so he did and then he says 'I'm coming back with my consultant'. and then they came back and measured it again and said 'do you think his head's unusually large for his age?' 'Well, no.' He says ' well we think it is and we need to do a scan because we think he's got fluid on his brain'."

Hugh Adams, from the charity Brain Tumour Research spoke to ITV Border about brain tumours in babies as young as Jacob.

The family have raised over £1,000 on social media which they say they are going to use to make lasting memories with their son, for as long as they have him.