A London family has had their lives turned upside down over the last four months as young Harry Goulden’s simple neck pain turned into paralysis. More shocking than his sudden health crisis, however, is the 10-year-old’s staggering recovery, as he’s already back on the football pitch.
Last October, the Hampstead Garden lad and his twin brother, Jesse, were playing football when Harry began to feel a pain in the back of his neck. He skipped football practice and even struggled to sleep that night because of the discomfort, his mum, Dr Miriam Fine-Goulden, recalled to PA.
While he did eventually get to sleep, no one would’ve expected the 10-year-old to wake up with “no power in his legs at all”. Rushed to A&E at Evelina London Children’s Hospital by his mum, who works at the hospital, Harry’s MRI scan showed a very rare tumour growing on his spinal cord.
He had been diagnosed with a Diffuse Leptomeningeal Glioneuronal Tumour, which the hospital has only seen a few cases of in the last decade. Although it’s still a worrying diagnosis, more than two-thirds of pediatric patients survive for more than a decade after diagnosis, according to Science Direct.
The tumour itself was already the size of a walnut, but it was actually a blood clot the tumour had formed, which was impacting his movement from the chest down. “We were told he might never walk again,” his mum shared. The medical team broke the news before rushing Harry to an emergency operation at King’s College Hospital to remove the blood clot and part of the tumour in the hopes he would be able to regain some movement.
While his mum had come to terms with her son’s paralysis and the idea that “this is what his life is going to be like”, her sporty child simply wasn’t having it. She recalled: “As soon as he found out it was a tumour, he decided it was something he could overcome and he would be able to walk again.”
Being a paediatric intensive care consultant, even his mum was shocked at how “quickly and successfully” her son managed to recover. He had no use of his legs straight after the surgery, but after five weeks of extensive physiotherapy and rehabilitation, going through a variety of mobility aids on his journey, he’s not only been able to get back on his feet but also back to his sports.
Now, nearly four full months since the harrowing event, Harry is running around the football pitch. His mum praised the “amazing” care from his medical team but also credited the 10-year-old’s unwavering determination and self-belief for his miraculous recovery, adding: “He never complained, he smiled the whole way through hospital.”