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A concerned parent and Andy Hinde faced devastating diagnosis in 2018 when their 17-month-old their baby was diagnosed with a uncommon form of leukaemia.

24 months of intensive medical care ensued, comprising drug treatments, radiation therapy, and immunotherapy before a bone marrow procedure. The young boy, at three years old, made a remarkable improvement from the operation, with medical staff declaring the illness in recovery.

During this period that the mother, aged thirty-six, began seeking answers. She constantly recalled remarks made by hospital staff at the time of her son’s diagnosis. “We lose sleep wondering how Fraser got his illness,” a doctor had told her.

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

Historical Context

The botched disposal of vast quantities of hazardous substances after the shutdown of a major industrial facility in this community in 1979 had “widely acknowledged,” said Alison. A 2009 civil case linked the improper remediation efforts of the site to a series of birth defects in town residents during the 1980s and 1990s.

Increasingly, the concerned mother started to connect the circumstances to her own. “[Fraser’s cancer] is not hereditary,” she explained. “What's the explanation? … It must be down to the community. So many children [with] illness.

“Everybody in this town knows somebody who’s got a child [with] the disease. That's unusual.”

Grassroots Movement

The parents started to connect with more parents in their community with parallel situations – including some of Alison's past schoolmates at Brooke Weston Academy – and the organization began assembling thorough information on those impacted. They now head a movement advocating for about 130 families with cases of childhood cancer starting from 1988.

The group has been urging the municipal government to research any connections between cases of childhood cancer in the town and the decommissioning of the plant. At the end of this month, health authorities are set to publish their evaluation of whether the area has had a disproportionate number of occurrences of youth disease for its population of 70,000.

“Our only goal is to work to secure coming generations so they do not have to endure the pain that we’ve been through,” said Alison.

Historical Context

The decision in the court proceeding acknowledged that, between a fourteen-year period, vast quantities of toxic substances from the manufacturing site were moved “regularly” from the southern part of town to Deene Quarry in the opposite end – with “substantial volumes” of toxic waste carried and dumped on community streets and “substantial quantities” of dust produced by the remediation.

Nonetheless, it also cited reports from the regulatory body in 1997 that discovered stockpiles of contaminated material that had been abandoned at this location were later taken away in “substantial volumes”.

Additional Issues

The campaign leader suspects waste was not only dumped at the Deene Quarry site but in additional areas of the town. Recently, she applauded a “important advancement” after local authorities said it would examine soil that could be contaminated and research where hazardous materials was deposited.

Gaffney said council staff admitted in the conference that they did not know where the areas of contaminated waste could be. “They stated: ‘We're uncertain where these areas are. Documentation is missing, we have nothing on it.’”

Community Support

The council’s announcement was also embraced by another parent, a educational worker at a local school, whose school-aged girl, Bella, was diagnosed with blood cancer in recent months.

“I had to shave my nine-year-old daughter's head because her hair was falling out from the treatments she had to use to destroy her cancer. Therefore it’s in the community's concern, it’s in Bella’s interest [for the council] to disclose that data,” she said.

“There are so many residents in the area that have been diagnosed with childhood cancer and I believe it’s impossible to overlook – it needs looking at. This can’t be normal.”

Personal Stories

Another resident, in her early thirties, who has a professional career and now resides elsewhere, said families deserved “complete and utter truth and openness” from the council.

Lyons’s young sibling, her sister, passed away on in recent years after being confirmed to have a specific illness at the young age. The girl, who fundraised for medical research, was “exceptionally adorable, humorous and kindest” individuals, she stated.

Her mother remembers the impact of the shutdown of the industrial facility on the community, she said. “She said you could not position your palm in before you because [of] the particulate matter.”

“These issues have continued since I’ve probably been about early childhood. It's too long and it is negligence toward the local residents.”

Past Associations

A relative, a community member, was among numerous parents connected to the legal case against the then Corby council after her newborn was born with a congenital issue. Her partner, Derek, was among the vehicle operators participating in transporting materials from the industrial site. Their situation was depicted in a media production, and demonstrated the mother removing the particles from her partner's pants.

Gaffney said the collective has been contacted by whistleblowers who were involved in the placement of waste in the area.