A mother who claims her gut-friendly recipes helped improve her young son’s survival chances from leukaemia from 13% to 97% has said “cancer isn’t all about chemo”. Sarah Cripps, 38, a business owner from Surrey, said her son Teddy was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML), a type of blood cancer, on April 1 2022 at 18 months old, which was “the worst April Fools’ joke ever”.
Teddy, now four, needed to undergo chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, but with doctors telling Sarah he had a 13% chance of survival, she said she wanted to “take control” and research ways in which she could help her son. Working with healthcare professionals from across the world, Sarah decided to create her own gut-friendly recipes packed with fruits and vegetables, including shepherd’s pie, spaghetti bolognese, smoothies and broths, to help Teddy consume “35 to 50 plant materials a week”.
Although Sarah does not think food cures cancer, she firmly believes it played a crucial role in her son’s survival, as he “flew through treatment” with minimal side effects and now stands at a 97% probability of cure. Sarah has now written a book “based on science” – called Cancer Isn’t All About Chemo – which discusses the holistic approaches, integrative nutrition and lifestyle strategies that cancer patients can implement alongside conventional medicine.
“Food is medicine,” Sarah told PA Real Life. “It doesn’t mean it is the only medicine.I cannot guarantee that every single person who implements our methods will survive … but the message is that there is hope.”
According to Blood Cancer UK, symptoms of AML can include tiredness, bruising, bleeding, a fever, bone or joint pain and lumps. For Teddy, Sarah said he was lethargic, “puffy” and had “the appearance of a virus”, but when she noticed lumps on the back of his head, she decided to seek medical advice.
After his symptoms were initially dismissed by their GP, Sarah sought a second opinion and this led to Teddy’s AML diagnosis in April 2022. After being transferred to St George’s Hospital and then The Royal Marsden in London, doctors said Teddy would need chemotherapy and a “lifesaving” bone marrow transplant.
Given Teddy has a non-identical twin called George, Sarah assumed he would be a perfect match, but this was not the case and Teddy was placed on the donor waiting list. “I was driving home and crying, just thinking, I can’t do this, something’s got to be out there,” Sarah said.
“And then I just remember hearing the voice of my best friend who passed away just after my wedding and she said, ‘You need to pull yourself together, you can do this’.”
Sarah then started doing her own research and came across Dr William Li’s TED Talk on YouTube – Can We Eat To Starve Cancer? – which gave her a new perspective on how to help her son. Having a background in nutrition, she said she started creating her own recipes, including shepherd’s pie with seven different vegetables, smoothies, homemade juices and her mushroom “healing broth”, and she worked closely with The Royal Marsden hospital kitchen to feed Teddy.
An NHS England report from November 2022 states that “it is important that all healthcare organisations see the intrinsic value in the view of ‘food as medicine’”.
“I would cook fresh food and I would pack it into Thermos flasks,” Sarah explained. “The strategy I had with Teddy was, chemo is going to save your life, but only if your body is strong enough to fight off the side effects.”
The Royal Marsden says foods that do not need to be kept in a fridge can be brought into the hospital, but any other foods need to be discussed with a member of its catering department. Sarah said she fed Teddy her recipes and gave him supplements with oversight from his medical team, and he experienced minimal side effects during chemotherapy.
She said he lost his hair only after his bone marrow transplant in August 2022 and “never required any pain medication”. “He didn’t get sick, genuinely,” Sarah said.“One of the healthcare professionals said to me, in the 12 years that they’d worked on that ward, they’d never ever seen a child go through treatment like Teddy.”
Sarah said she “hired the best people over the world”, including naturopaths and nutritionists, and in total, she and her husband Kurt spent around £65,000. To save others this “financial strain”, Sarah wanted to share her knowledge – and the idea for her book Cancer Isn’t All About Chemo was born.
“I think it’s important to give people information so they can make informed decisions alongside their medical teams,” Sarah said. Launching on Tuesday (February 4) on World Cancer Day, Sarah said her book provides a comprehensive guide to help patients and their families improve their quality of life during treatment and potentially achieve better outcomes.
She said it focuses on holistic methods, such as optimising nutrition, managing stress and prioritising quality sleep, and encourages people to “go back to the basics”. Sarah said she would “never advocate for not doing conventional medicine” and would advise people to speak to their medical teams about any nutrition plans, but she has described Teddy’s transformation as “incredible”.
With Teddy now having a 97% probability of cure, Sarah wants to help others with her new book, which has been praised by healthcare professionals such as now-retired professor of pathology AbulKalam M Shamsuddin, who said it is a “must-read book for cancer patients and their beloved ones”.
“It’s about looking at building somebody’s body up so it can work with the cancer treatment to get better results,” she said. “I’m trying to give the world something that gives you hope when you don’t feel like there’s any hope left.”
A spokesperson at The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust said: “We have specialised dietetics and catering teams available to provide bespoke, freshly cooked and highly nutritious food for all of our young patients during their time with us. Patients and families can discuss their dietary requirements and preferences with our team, who go above and beyond to deliver a variety of the best possible meals and options for patients to make eating and drinking easier for those on treatment.
“It is vital for children and young people to maintain their nutritional status and support their growth and development during treatment.”
To find out more about Sarah’s book which is available on Amazon, visit: amazon.co.uk/Cancer-Isnt-All-About-Chemo/dp/1917623011.