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A local mother and Fraser's father received heartbreaking diagnosis in 2018 when their toddler their child was diagnosed with a unusual variant of blood cancer.

An extended period of demanding therapies ensued, including drug treatments, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy before a stem cell transplant. Their son, at three years old, made a remarkable improvement from the procedure, with physicians confirming the disease in regression.

As Fraser improved that Alison, 36, began looking for explanations. She constantly recalled observations made by healthcare workers at the time of her child's illness. “It keeps us up at night wondering how he got his cancer,” a specialist had informed her.

“We're constantly wondering wondering how he got his illness,” a doctor had told her.

Background Information

The negligent management of enormous amounts of contaminated waste after the shutdown of Europe’s largest steelworks in this community in 1979 had “widely acknowledged,” said the mother. A legal proceeding associated the council’s negligent clean-up of the site to a cluster of congenital abnormalities in community youth during the twentieth century.

Over time, the concerned mother started to link the circumstances to her own. “[Fraser’s cancer] is not hereditary,” she said. “What's the explanation? … It’s got to be down to the area. So many children [with] illness.

“Each person here knows someone who’s got a minor [with] illness. That's unusual.”

Community Action

The parents started to contact additional households in the town with similar stories – including some of Gaffney’s past schoolmates at Brooke Weston Academy – and the collective began gathering detailed records on those involved. They now spearhead a campaign representing about numerous households with instances of pediatric illness dating back to 1988.

The group has been pressuring the town council to investigate any links between occurrences of pediatric illness in the town and the closure of the industrial site. In the coming weeks, public health officials are expected to release their study of whether the community has had a disproportionate number of instances of childhood cancer for its residents of seventy thousand.

“Our only goal is to work to secure future people so they do not have to endure the suffering that we've experienced,” said Gaffney.

Historical Context

The ruling in the legal case acknowledged that, between 1983 and 1997, millions of tonnes of toxic substances from the steel plant were relocated “almost invariably” from the south of Corby to Deene Quarry in the northern section – with “substantial volumes” of contaminated substances transported and dumped on community streets and “substantial quantities” of airborne particles generated by the reclamation.

Nevertheless, it also mentioned findings from the regulatory body in 1997 that found accumulations of contaminated material that had been abandoned at this location were later taken away in “significant amounts”.

Expanding Concerns

Gaffney believes toxic substances was not only dumped at the main disposal area but in different locations of the municipality. Recently, she applauded a “major step forward” after municipal government said it would analyze land that could be polluted and study where hazardous materials was dumped.

The mother said local officials admitted in the discussion that they did not know where the sites of contaminated waste could be. “They said: ‘We don’t know where these areas are. There are no records, we have nothing on it.’”

Community Support

The official statement was also welcomed by a community member, a educational worker at a local school, whose nine-year-old daughter, Bella, was confirmed to have a hematologic malignancy in June this year.

“I needed to cut my young child's hair because her locks was shedding from the drugs she had to use to kill her illness. Therefore it’s in our interest, it’s in Bella’s interest [for the council] to disclose that knowledge,” she stated.

“Numerous residents in the town that have been diagnosed with childhood cancer and I believe it’s cannot be dismissed – it requires investigation. This isn't typical.”

Individual Accounts

A community member, 31, who has a professional career and now has moved away, said families merited “absolute honesty and openness” from the government.

Lyons’s 11-year-old sister, the girl, died on in recent years after being diagnosed with a uncommon malignancy at the young age. Her sister, who fundraised for cancer charities, was “exceptionally lovable, entertaining and kindest” people, she said.

Her mother recalls the impact of the shutdown of the steel plant on the town, the woman said. “She said you couldn’t put your hand in ahead of you because [of] the colored dust.”

“These issues have continued since I’ve probably been about three years old. This duration is unreasonable and it is negligence toward the community members.”

Past Associations

A relative, Maggie Mahon, was one of several households involved in the 2009 claim against the then Corby council after her baby was born with clubfoot. Her partner, the man, was one of the vehicle operators responsible for transporting materials from the industrial site. Their experience was portrayed in a media production, and showed Maggie removing the debris from her spouse's clothing.

The campaign leader said the collective has been contacted by individuals with information who were involved in the disposal of materials in the community.