A hugely courageous Livingston youngster who went through a life-saving liver transplant last year following a cancer battle has been officially recognised.
Leo Barker has been chosen to be the face of an awards scheme that recognises the courage of children and young people diagnosed with cancer.
And the youngster, now in remission, received a Cancer Research UK for Children & Young People Star Award, in partnership with TK Maxx.
Just weeks after his 11th birthday, Leo received a new liver at the transplant centre at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. The six-hour surgery on October 1 last year was needed as Leo was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a rare tumour that begins in the liver.
Leo’s parents, Laura Barker, 41, and Steven Barker, 44, and brother Cole, 14 are hugely proud.
Mum Laura said: “Leo is a true warrior and has shown phenomenal courage during the most difficult year of our lives.
“All he wanted for his 11th birthday was a new liver so he could get well again and we have so many people to thank that this happened. There are 22 scars on Leo’s body and every single one tells his story. Leo has been a champion all the way through, smiling, dancing, pranking the nurses. But we’ll be forever indebted to the family who lost a loved one and grateful for this gift of life to Leo.”
Laura recalls vividly the moment their world was turned upside down on June 1 2020 at St John’s hospital in Livingston.
They’d visited their GP surgery earlier that day for a check up as judo fan Leo had developed a lump in his abdomen and was feeling excessively tired regularly. Hours later, after an urgent hospital referral, doctors explained they thought Leo may have cancer.
Laura said: “The doctor said, ‘do you know what happens in an oncology unit as we have to make an urgent referral?’ Leo asked straight out, ‘Mum, have I got cancer?”
An appointment was booked for the next morning at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh.
Blood tests showed Leo had a high AFP level (alpha fetoprotein) which can be raised in people with liver cancer.
Scans showed what they had first thought was one tumour in Leo’s liver was actually three. Leo started chemotherapy treatment on June 24.
When Leo’s hair started falling out due to the side effects of treatment, he dyed it orange then as a family they took turns to shave the rest of his hair off.
At first, doctors hoped they could shrink the cancer enough to save Leo’s liver by removing the cancer but allowing the healthy liver tissue to regenerate.
But last summer scans showed the cancer was too advanced and the best option was a liver transplant.
After a week’s assessment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Leo returned home and was finally put on the transplant list at 3pm on September 29 last year. Just 14 hours later at 5am a phone call from the transplant team woke them up.
Laura said: “We had 20 minutes to get up, get dressed, grab our bags and drive through to Glasgow airport to meet the air ambulance crew. It was during lockdown and it felt almost like something out of a movie.
“We were advised to get some sleep but Leo was too excited. Leo was finally taken down to the operating theatre around 3am on October 1.
“It was a relief six hours later when the surgeon called to say the transplant surgery had been a success. The family were not told the identity of the organ donor, only that the liver was in excellent condition. Leo recovered in the intensive care unit for five days and was in hospital for a total of three weeks. The medical team were brilliant. They were calm, hugely skilled and great with kids.”
Leo had one more chemotherapy cycle after surgery. And he was back in hospital twice suffering from complications as doctors endeavoured to stop his body from rejecting the new liver.
But on May 13 2021, outside the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh, Leo rang the bell to mark the end of treatment.
Leo, who is an orange belt at judo, is being supported back to the sport by his coach Ramsay Thomson at Whitburn Judo Club and is enjoying reconnecting with friends with pupils and staff at St Ninian’s Primary, Livingston.
The family recently marked the first anniversary of the transplant which they refer to as the, “liverversary.”
Cancer Research UK’s work has contributed to dramatically improving survival for children with hepatoblastoma as well as making treatments kinder with fewer side effects.
The Cancer Research UK for Children & Young People Star Awards, in partnership with TK Maxx, are open to all children under 18 who live in the UK and have been treated for the disease within the past five years.
To nominate a child for an award, visit cruk.org/starawards.
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