Brave Luke defies the odds as he takes part in football camp

A TERMINALLY-ILL youngster, who was given just nine months to live in January, has defied the odds as he prepares to travel to Mexico for a third round of groundbreaking treatment next month.

Luke Robertson - whose experimental treatment in Mexico has already extended his life span past that which the UK doctors thought he would achieve. Pictured as he heads off to Hibs football camp with his young brother, Lewis

Proud Mum Jennifer Ure Stewart will take son Luke, and her dad Robert on the trip, more than 10 months after medical experts gave the grim prognosis as the seven-year-old was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour known as Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Giloma (DIPG) in January.

Since his treatment Luke has been able to attend primary school full-time and has even managed this week to accompany his younger brother Lewis, aged five, to a Hibs training camp.

A JustGiving page Help Luke set up after his diagnosis raised a whopping £180K to date and has seen Jennifer and husband Mark embark on a nationwide fundraising campaign.

The mother-of-three from Tranent said: “If we left it and didn’t do anything about it - he wouldn’t be here.”

Luke has received eight Intra-arterial chemotherapy treatments so far - four of these were combined with immunotherapy aimed at reducing his tumour.

The family will fly out to Monterrey Vale Oriente hospital in Mexico where he has been receiving treatment not currently available on the NHS.

According to The Brain Tumour Charity only around 10 per cent of children with DIPG survive longer than two years after the diagnosis with average survival rates being less than one year.

Jennifer said: “It will never go away but if we can keep him stable then he’ll be able to live his life.

“So at the moment he’s had a good reduction in his tumour, his cyst has had a great reduction and it’s not got any proteins in it anymore - it’s just clear fluid. The walls of his tumour are thinner and the cancer activity is really low, so there’s a lot of dead tumour there. A lot of progress is being made.

“In terms of life expectancy - it’s how long is a piece of string?

“They still don’t know, it’s on a treatment by treatment basis and also depends on how well Luke reacts to it.”

Luke has made friends with the doctors and nurses who treat him in Mexico and even the local football team C.F. Monterrey who are one of the biggest clubs in the country have agreed to raise funds for the youngster.

Jennifer added: “We’ve travelled to Mexico twice now and this will be our third time.

“He loves going, the staff, the nurses are all absolutely amazing - it’s like a second home.

“Once he gets his head round that he’s going back again he looks forward to it as he’s built relationships like we all have. He’s built relationships with the doctors, the nurses and the football team.

“There are 65 children currently receiving treatment in Mexico and there are more wanting to go out.”

To help the family contact www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/AllHelpLuke