🔗 Share this article

Alison Gaffney and Fraser's father were given devastating information in 2018 when their young son their child was diagnosed with a uncommon form of blood cancer.

Two years of demanding therapies followed, comprising cancer medications, targeted radiation, and immunotherapy before a bone marrow procedure. The young boy, then aged three, made a “miraculous recovery” from the operation, with physicians declaring the illness in recovery.

During this period that Alison, in her mid-thirties, began investigating answers. She could not stop thinking about observations made by healthcare workers at the time of her child's illness. “We're tormented wondering how our son got his cancer,” a doctor had shared with her.

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

Historical Context

The botched disposal of millions of tonnes of contaminated waste after the cessation of the town's primary employer in this community in 1979 had “widely acknowledged,” said Alison. A legal proceeding connected the improper remediation efforts of the site to a string of developmental issues in local children during the 1980s and 1990s.

Increasingly, Alison started to link the situation to her own. “[His illness] is not inherited,” she stated. “What could cause this? … It must be down to the town. All these kids [with] illness.

“Everybody in this town knows somebody who’s got a child [with] cancer. That’s not normal.”

Collective Efforts

Gaffney and Hinde started to reach out to additional households in the town with parallel situations – featuring some of Gaffney’s past schoolmates at their former educational institution – and the collective began gathering comprehensive documentation on those affected. They now lead a campaign representing about many parents with situations of youth disease starting from 1988.

The collective has been calling on the town council to examine any relationships between cases of pediatric illness in Corby and the closure of the facility. At the end of this month, health authorities are set to publish their evaluation of whether the community has had a unusually high rate of cases of youth disease for its residents of the local community.

“All we want is to attempt to safeguard future people so they won't experience the suffering that we’ve been through,” said Gaffney.

Legal Precedents

The ruling in the 2009 civil claim recognized that, between a fourteen-year period, vast quantities of hazardous waste from the manufacturing site were relocated “regularly” from the southern part of town to Deene Quarry in the north – with “large quantities” of toxic waste carried and deposited on local thoroughfares and “considerable amounts” of dust produced by the reclamation.

Nonetheless, it also referenced documents from the Environment Agency in 1997 that found stockpiles of contaminated material that had been abandoned at Deene Quarry were later removed in “significant amounts”.

Additional Issues

The campaign leader suspects toxic substances was not merely deposited at the main disposal area but in additional areas of the town. Recently, she welcomed a “significant progress” after municipal government said it would test soil that could be polluted and investigate where contaminated substances was disposed of.

Alison said council staff acknowledged in the conference that they were unaware where the areas of toxic materials could be. “They explained: ‘We lack information where these sites are. There are no records, we possess no information.’”

Local Backing

The official statement was also supported by another parent, a school staff member at a local school, whose school-aged girl, Bella, was found to have a hematologic malignancy in the summer.

“I needed to cut my little girl's head because her hair was falling out from the drugs she had to use to eliminate her cancer. Consequently it’s in our interest, it’s in her daughter's welfare [for the council] to reveal that information,” she said.

“Countless residents in the community that have been found to have youth disease and I just feel it’s too much to ignore – it needs looking at. This isn't typical.”

Family Experiences

Meg Lyons, in her early thirties, who has a professional career and now has moved away, said households merited “absolute honesty and clarity” from the local authority.

Lyons’s 11-year-old sister, Eve, died on in recent years after being diagnosed with a specific illness at the young age. Eve, who raised awareness for medical research, was “one of the most charming, entertaining and compassionate” people, the sister recalled.

Her mother recollects the effect of the shutdown of the industrial facility on the community, the woman stated. “She mentioned you couldn’t put your fingers in front of your face because [of] the particulate matter.”

“This has been going on since around about my youth. It’s an excessive amount of time and it is irresponsibility toward the people of Corby.”

Past Associations

Another family member, a local resident, was among numerous parents involved in the 2009 claim against the then Corby council after her infant was had a congenital issue. Her partner, the man, was a member of the truck operators responsible for transporting materials from the industrial site. Their situation was shown in a media production, and demonstrated the mother removing the dust from her partner's pants.

Gaffney said the organization has been contacted by individuals with information who were involved in the disposal of waste in the town.