A seven-year-old boy who had an operation to remove a brain tumour against his mother’s wishes woke up after the seven hour procedure “as bright as ever” and spoke.
Sally Roberts - who returns to court today - wanted any operation on her son, Neon, delayed until more doctors had been consulted because she feared side effects such as mutism.
She sparked a nationwide hunt earlier this month when she fled with Neon in an attempt to avoid further treatment after he underwent an initial operation to remove the brain tumour.
But High Court judge Mr Justice Bodey ruled on Tuesday that a second operation should go ahead immediately after doctors warned that Neon might die without it.
The procedure went ahead yesterday and last night Mrs Roberts, 37, was at her son’s beside, with Neon’s father, Ben Roberts, who lives in Knightsbridge.
She told The Daily Mail her son was in “amazing spirits” and doing “really, really well”.
She said: “His sense of humour is amazing. He is doing so much better than he was after the first operation.”
Describing the moment she saw Neon after the operation, she said: “He just said, ‘mummy’ and started to reach out to me. He was whacked but is so amazing. He is such a trooper.
“Last time he found it hard to speak for the first few days. It is such a huge relief he is talking. The doctors also said it might take a while for him to move his head but he lifted his head up. It was incredible to lie there with him and look into his gorgeous eyes. He’s doing really, really well”.
Mrs Roberts’s brother, Tony Leese, visited Neon after the surgery.
He told The Daily Mail: “You know the first thing I heard him say? The nurse was holding his hands checking his reactions and asking him questions, telling him to squeeze his hands to answer. And Neon goes, ‘I can still talk, you know’.
“It was a witty remark to make. He’s as sharp as ever.”
Mrs Roberts, from Devon, is due in court again today to argue against radiotherapy, which will begin on January 16 unless the court rules in her favour.
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Neon was diagnosed with a brain tumour tow months ago and doctors believed they had removed it during a nine-hour operation on October 25.
They had wished to perform radiotherapy but Mrs Roberts refused to allow this fearing it would damage him. A recent MRI scaned then showed signs of a regrowth of the tumoor.
Last night Mrs Roberts said she had seen her son’s medical notes following the operation and was seeking second opinions because there were aspects of his care she is not happy with.
Neon’s father, Ben, 34, who is Mrs Roberts’s estranged husband, has always been in favour of conventional cancer treatment for his son.
