High Peak youngster’s cancer is no longer active - after community raised £154,000 for treatment

The Advertiser has been following Peter Berriman’s journey for several years now after the family were told the treatment he needed was not available on the NHS.

Since then the community rallied and raised a staggering £154,000 to cover the cost of his travel and treatment to the United States of America in less than a year.

Following a recent scan the Chinley family were given the news there is no active disease in his body anymore.

Mum Mandy said: “This is not remission and Peter will continue to have regular scans because the risk of relapse doesn't disappear with this good news, but it is the first time since he relapsed three years ago that we can say with any degree of certainty that nothing bad is happening inside him right now.

“It may take a while for this news to completely sink in.”

Peter, 13, was diagnosed with Intermediate Risk Neuroblastoma in 2019.

This came after he complained about a back ache which his parents initially thought was linked to him breaking his toe in the weeks before.

While visiting family in Scotland, Peter became more ill and ended up in hospital. Scans showed Peter had a growth which was pushing on his spine and two days later a biopsy was taken.

His tumour caused a spinal cord injury which left him with no movement or sensation in his lower body and he now uses a wheelchair.

Peter successfully completed his cancer treatment in February, 2020, but unfortunately in August 2020, his cancer relapsed, this time as metastatic High Risk Neuroblastoma.He had a tumour on his skull, lesions on his pelvis and evidence of disease in his bone marrow classing his relapse as high risk and vastly reducing his chances of long-term survival.

However, regular scans later showed that Peter’s tumour was smaller and showing signs of dying off and the pelvis disease is less visible.

The trial in America was to stop the cancer growth and lower his relapse rate which is important because every time he relapses it becomes more difficult to treat. It was also designed to stop any other cancer growing.Mandy said: “We were going for MRI scans and MIBG scans and we kept seeing lots of problems lighting up.

“It was only when we were discussing the next steps for Peter we decided to have PET scan which looks at whether the cancer in his body is metabolically active.

“The results very clearly showed there was nothing active in his body which is the news we have all been waiting for.

“We may never get the news that Peter is disease free but this is the most hopeful we have been since 2020.

“It is hard to put into words how hard these last few years have been on us as a family.

“We got the news no family ever wants to hear but there was so much going on we couldn’t process it we just had to get through it with no time to think.

“We were in crisis mode, fight or flight. There is no time for big emotions when you have big news like that to deal with.

“Now the time has come to take a breath, start picking up the pieces and putting our lives back together and finding a new path.

“These last 18 months, since he started his trial in America, there have been less hospital stays and appointments and given him a chance to get on with his life.

“This last year has felt much more normal and both Peter and his older brother Sam have gained back some of that normality we have been missing.”

Peter, who has just finished Year 8 at Chapel-en-le-Frith High School, has stayed an active Scout member and even taken on a new hobby as youth leader at the Back Up Trust, a charity set up to help people affected by spinal cord injury to get the most out of life.

Mandy said: “When Peter was first diagnosed and in the early stage of his treatment so many decisions were made for him and he had very little control over his life.

“Now with his role as youth leader he is in control and helping others in a similar situation to himself and he really enjoys it.”

Peter is still on the trial until January next year and Mandy says she is so thankful to everyone who got them here.

She said: “I am hugely grateful for the journey we have been on and the support from friends and people we don’t know and we wouldn’t be here without you.

"It has also been so positive in getting to our neighbours and community, people stop me in the street and say hello no and people have dropped off a cooked meal so there is one less thing to worry about as a family.

"It has been a very tough couple of years but the wonderful, generous nature of people has truly shone through and for that and for where we are now with Peter’s journey I am so thankful.”

The family have one more trip to America to get the last prescription of Peter’s medication which will take him until January the following year and after that they are off on a much deserved road trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Washington and New York,

Mandy added: “It will be a holiday we can now truly enjoy with relief.”