The parents of five-year-old Ashya King, who were jailed after taking him abroad for brain tumour treatment, say their son is now free of cancer
Brett and Naghemeh King sparked an international manhunt last summer, when they took their son out of hospital to seek proton beam treatment in Prague.
The couple fled from Southampton General Hospital with their ill son and without medical consent, after they were told the specialist therapy was not available to him on the NHS.
Today, The Sun newspaperhas reported Ashya’s family have told of his “miracle” recovery, as the Proton Therapy Centre (PTC) in Prague where he was treated declared him free of the disease.
Mrs King described the news as “a miracle” saying: “If we had left Ashya with the NHS in Britain, he would not be with us today. He was too weak and would not have survived.”
Ashya’s father Brett said his son’s condition now justifies their actions of taking their son to Spain where they have a holiday home.
He said: “We have saved his life”, adding that they would do the same thing again if they felt they had to.
Mr and Mrs King were arrested in Spain and spent several nights in prison away from their son, before being released.
Following a long legal battle by his parents, Ashya was finally allowed to undergo the proton beam treatment at the centre in Prague.
Experts claimed it was more effective than the radiotherapy the five-year-old was being offered on the NHS.
It uses charged particles instead of X-rays to deliver radiotherapy for cancer patients, allowing high-energy protons to be targeted directly at a tumour, reducing the dose to surrounding tissues and organs.
The therapy limits the collateral damage of radiation to other vital organs, such as the heart and liver in Ashya’s case.
This would lead to less severe long-term side effects including heart and breathing problems.
In September last year the NHS agreed to fund the treatment in Prague.
His family remain in Marbella where he will continue his recovery.
In October last year the family spoke of their apprehension to return to the UK for fear social services would get involved.
The newspaper quoted a report from the PTC which stated that the oncology department “could speculate that Proton Therapy received could be sufficient to sterilise sites of possible future relapses of the tumour and chemotherapy could deteriorate the quality of life of Ashya”.
