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Alison Gaffney and her partner received devastating information in 2018 when their young son their baby was confirmed to have a uncommon form of blood cancer.

Two years of gruelling treatment followed, involving cancer medications, radiotherapy, and biological therapies before a stem cell transplant. Their son, at three years old, made a “miraculous recovery” from the surgery, with physicians declaring the cancer in recovery.

As Fraser improved that Gaffney, aged thirty-six, began investigating explanations. She constantly recalled remarks made by medical professionals at the time of her Fraser's condition. “It keeps us up at night wondering how he got his cancer,” a doctor had told her.

“It keeps us up at night wondering how our son got his illness,” a consultant had shared with her.

Historical Context

The negligent management of millions of tonnes of hazardous substances after the shutdown of a major industrial facility in Corby in 1979 had “always been a known thing,” said the mother. A legal proceeding connected the improper remediation efforts of the site to a series of congenital abnormalities in town residents during the previous decades.

Increasingly, Gaffney started to connect the circumstances to her own. “[The disease] is not genetic,” she stated. “What could cause this? … It’s got to be down to the community. So many children [with] cancer.

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

Community Action

The parents started to contact other families in Corby with comparable experiences – including some of Gaffney’s past schoolmates at a local school – and the group began gathering detailed records on those affected. They now head a campaign representing about numerous households with cases of youth disease starting from 1988.

The group has been urging the town council to examine any relationships between instances of pediatric illness in the town and the shutdown of the facility. Soon, medical experts are set to publish their evaluation of whether the area has had a disproportionate number of instances of youth disease for its inhabitants of the local community.

“What we seek is to try and protect subsequent residents so they do not have to endure the pain that we've endured,” said Alison.

Legal Precedents

The ruling in the legal case recognized that, between a fourteen-year period, vast quantities of toxic substances from the industrial facility were relocated “regularly” from the south of Corby to a specific location in the northern section – with “substantial volumes” of hazardous materials carried and dumped on public roads and “substantial quantities” of particulate matter created by the remediation.

Nevertheless, it also referenced documents from the Environment Agency in 1997 that found stockpiles of toxic substances that had been deposited at the site were later extracted in “large quantities”.

Expanding Concerns

Gaffney believes contaminated materials was not exclusively placed at the main disposal area but in different locations of the municipality. Lately, she welcomed a “significant progress” after North Northamptonshire council said it would test ground that could be polluted and investigate where toxic waste was disposed of.

Alison said government representatives confirmed in the discussion that they did not know where the sites of contaminated waste could be. “They explained: ‘We're uncertain where these locations are. We have no documentation, we possess no information.’”

Community Support

The council’s announcement was also welcomed by another parent, a school staff member at a local school, whose school-aged girl, the child, was confirmed to have blood cancer in June this year.

“I had to shave my little girl's hair because her locks was coming out from the treatments she had to administer to eliminate her illness. Consequently it’s in everyone's benefit, it’s in the child's wellbeing [for the council] to disclose that information,” she stated.

“There are so many individuals in the community that have been diagnosed with childhood cancer and It seems it’s impossible to overlook – it needs looking at. This is unusual.”

Personal Stories

Meg Lyons, 31, who is employed in business and now has moved away, said parents merited “complete and utter truth and transparency” from the local authority.

Lyons’s 11-year-old sister, the girl, succumbed on 24 June 2017 after being found to have a rare bone cancer at the childhood. The girl, who collected money for medical research, was “one of the most lovable, funniest and compassionate” people, the sister said.

Her parent remembers the impact of the closure of the steel plant on the community, Lyons explained. “She said you were unable to place your fingers in ahead of you because [of] the red ash.”

“These issues have continued since around about three years old. It's too long and it is irresponsibility toward the community members.”

Historical Connections

Another family member, a local resident, was part of multiple parents involved in the 2009 claim against the former government after her newborn was diagnosed with a congenital issue. Her partner, Derek, was one of the truck operators responsible for removing waste from the manufacturing facility. Their story was depicted in a television program, and illustrated the mother cleaning the dust from her husband’s jeans.

Alison said the campaign group has been approached by whistleblowers who were involved in the disposal of substances in the community.