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Alison Gaffney and Fraser's father faced life-altering news in 2018 when their young son their child was confirmed to have a uncommon form of childhood cancer.

Two years of gruelling treatment followed, involving cancer medications, radiotherapy, and biological therapies before a cellular therapy. The young boy, then aged three, made a remarkable improvement from the surgery, with medical staff declaring the illness in remission.

It was at this point that Alison, 36, began seeking answers. She could not stop thinking about remarks made by hospital staff at the time of her child's illness. “We lose sleep wondering how our son got his disease,” a specialist had told her.

“We're constantly wondering wondering how he got his cancer,” a specialist had shared with her.

Background Information

The botched disposal of vast quantities of contaminated waste after the cessation of Europe’s largest steelworks in this community in 1979 had “always been a known thing,” said the mother. A 2009 civil case connected the improper remediation efforts of the site to a series of congenital abnormalities in community youth during the previous decades.

Increasingly, Gaffney started to link the situation to her own. “[Fraser’s cancer] is not inherited,” she explained. “What's the explanation? … It’s got to be down to the town. Numerous young people [with] the disease.

“Every resident knows somebody who’s got a minor [with] cancer. That's unusual.”

Community Action

The parents started to contact more parents in Corby with similar stories – featuring some of Gaffney’s ex-school friends at Brooke Weston Academy – and the collective began assembling thorough information on those affected. They now head a campaign representing about numerous households with cases of childhood cancer starting from 1988.

The collective has been calling on the local authority to investigate any relationships between instances of childhood cancer in this community and the decommissioning of the facility. At the end of this month, health authorities are preparing to share their analysis of whether the town has had a elevated incidence of occurrences of youth disease for its population of 70,000.

“What we seek is to attempt to safeguard future people so they won't experience the hardship that we've endured,” said the mother.

Historical Context

The decision in the legal case accepted that, between 1983 and 1997, enormous amounts of hazardous waste from the industrial facility were moved “almost invariably” from the southern part of town to a specific location in the opposite end – with “significant amounts” of contaminated substances transported and dumped on local thoroughfares and “considerable amounts” of dust produced by the reclamation.

Nevertheless, it also mentioned reports from the Environment Agency in 1997 that found stockpiles of toxic substances that had been abandoned at the site were later removed in “significant amounts”.

Expanding Concerns

Alison maintains waste was not exclusively placed at the primary location but in different locations of the municipality. Recently, she applauded a “important advancement” after municipal government said it would test ground that could be polluted and research where toxic waste was dumped.

Alison said government representatives confirmed in the meeting that they were unaware where the areas of toxic materials could be. “They said: ‘We don’t know where these sites are. We have no documentation, we possess no information.’”

Local Backing

The council’s announcement was also supported by Tonia Shalgosky, a educational worker at a local school, whose young child, Bella, was found to have blood cancer in recent months.

“I was forced to trim my young child's scalp because her hair was falling out from the treatments she had to take to kill her disease. Therefore it’s in the community's concern, it’s in Bella’s interest [for the council] to share that knowledge,” she explained.

“Numerous people in the town that have been diagnosed with youth disease and I just feel it’s too much to ignore – it needs looking at. This isn't typical.”

Individual Accounts

Meg Lyons, 31, who has a professional career and now has moved away, said families deserved “absolute honesty and openness” from the council.

Her 11-year-old sister, her sister, passed away on in recent years after being diagnosed with a uncommon malignancy at the young age. The girl, who raised awareness for medical research, was “one of the most charming, entertaining and kindest” people, she recalled.

Her mother remembers the consequence of the shutdown of the industrial facility on the area, Lyons explained. “She said you were unable to place your hand in front of your face because [of] the red ash.”

“These issues have continued since I’ve probably been about my youth. It's too long and it is irresponsibility toward the community members.”

Past Associations

Lyons’s cousin, a local resident, was part of multiple households involved in the 2009 claim against the previous administration after her infant was diagnosed with clubfoot. Her spouse, Derek, was among the vehicle operators responsible for handling substances from the manufacturing facility. Their story was shown in a recent series, and illustrated Maggie cleaning the particles from her spouse's clothing.

The campaign leader said the collective has been reached out to by individuals with information who were involved in the disposal of substances in the area.