Parents of Perth toddler Connor Marsh fighting brain cancer call for proton radiation to be available in Aus

Two-year-old Connor Marsh is in the fight of his life as he battles metastatic brain cancer.

But the treatment he needs is not accessible in Australia, making the devastating news even harder for his family.

In early November, Alex and April Marsh were told the news no parent wants to hear — their little boy had a large, aggressive tumour, called a medulloblastoma, in his brain. Multiple spots had already spread through his spine.

His parents have since been told he will need radiotherapy. But the treatment classed as the gold standard for children — proton therapy — is not available in the country.

Within a week of the shocking diagnosis, Connor underwent a 10-hour surgery to remove the main mass.

He is now in the Perth Children’s Hospital oncology ward as an inpatient, where he is likely to spend Christmas and his third birthday as he undergoes intense chemotherapy.

The cancer has continued to spread at a rapid rate.

It covers more than 80 per cent of his spine, which has put pressure on his spinal cord — in turn causing paralysis to the lower half of his body.

“We’re still holding on hope that the paralysis passes and he gets some function back, but every day that passes it’s pretty tough,” his dad Alex Marsh said.

“With all these complications it’s more than likely we’ll be in here for at least a few months before we can even look at going home.

“At the moment, I’m living at the hospital 24/7, while April is splitting her time between home and the hospital with a one-year-old (Connor’s little brother, Lachlan) and support from her mum, so it’s pretty stressful.”

What has made the diagnosis even harder is knowing Connor will likely need to travel to Florida for proton radiation treatment.

Proton radiation therapy precisely targets cancer tumours.

In comparison, traditional radiation has a high exit dose, which means it shoots through healthy parts of the body. This can have long-term impacts for a child, including brain damage.

Australia’s Medical Treatment Overseas Program will allow Connor and one of his parents to travel to the US for treatment but the support doesn’t extend to his other family members.

The Marshs started a GoFundMe page in a bid to keep the family together, as Connor goes through this horrible ordeal.

However, they really hope the treatment will become available in Australia to keep families like theirs together and to give children with cancer the best chance of survival.

“It’s a pretty traumatic experience, you have to separate your family and take an immuno-compromised child on a plane for 30-plus hours,” Mr Marsh said.

“A lot of families are tossing up whether to get the gold standard for their child or to keep the family together during this time.

“We’ve got an amazing medical system here in Australia but this is an area that we’re falling behind in. Children need their families together for this, and the parents need to be together as well.”