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A concerned parent and Fraser's father received life-altering information in 2018 when their young son their baby was confirmed to have a rare type of blood cancer.

An extended period of gruelling treatment ensued, comprising cancer medications, radiation therapy, and biological therapies before a stem cell transplant. Their son, by age three, made a remarkable improvement from the operation, with doctors declaring the cancer in recovery.

As Fraser improved that Alison, aged thirty-six, began looking for answers. She could not stop thinking about comments made by hospital staff at the time of her Fraser's condition. “It keeps us up at night wondering how our son got his cancer,” a doctor had shared with her.

“We're constantly wondering wondering how our son got his illness,” a doctor had told her.

Background Information

The botched disposal of enormous amounts of hazardous substances after the closure of the town's primary employer in Corby in 1979 had “widely acknowledged,” said Gaffney. A 2009 civil case connected the council’s negligent clean-up of the site to a cluster of developmental issues in local children during the 1980s and 1990s.

Gradually, Gaffney started to connect the case to her own. “[Fraser’s cancer] is not inherited,” she stated. “What could cause this? … It must be down to the community. So many children [with] the disease.

“Every resident knows somebody who’s got a youngster [with] the disease. That's unusual.”

Community Action

Gaffney and Hinde started to connect with other families in the town with parallel situations – among them some of Gaffney’s ex-school friends at Brooke Weston Academy – and the organization began gathering detailed records on those impacted. They now spearhead a campaign supporting about numerous households with cases of childhood cancer dating back to 1988.

The collective has been calling on the municipal government to research any relationships between occurrences of pediatric illness in the town and the decommissioning of the plant. Soon, health authorities are preparing to share their analysis of whether the community has had a unusually high rate of cases of childhood cancer for its residents of seventy thousand.

“All we want is to try and protect subsequent residents so they do not have to endure the hardship that we've endured,” said Alison.

Legal Precedents

The judgment in the legal case acknowledged that, between 1983 and 1997, millions of tonnes of toxic substances from the steel plant were moved “typically” from the one area to Deene Quarry in the opposite end – with “large quantities” of contaminated substances transported and dropped on public roads and “considerable amounts” of airborne particles generated by the reclamation.

Nevertheless, it also referenced reports from the Environment Agency in 1997 that discovered accumulations of contaminated material that had been abandoned at this location were later extracted in “large quantities”.

Expanding Concerns

Gaffney suspects contaminated materials was not exclusively placed at the main disposal area but in additional areas of the town. Recently, she welcomed a “important advancement” after local authorities said it would analyze land that could be contaminated and study where hazardous materials was deposited.

Gaffney said government representatives acknowledged in the discussion that they were unaware where the sites of hazardous substances could be. “They explained: ‘We're uncertain where these locations are. We have no documentation, we possess no information.’”

Public Endorsement

The council’s announcement was also supported by Tonia Shalgosky, a school staff member at a local school, whose nine-year-old daughter, the child, was confirmed to have a hematologic malignancy in the summer.

“I had to shave my little girl's head because her hair was coming out from the drugs she had to take to eliminate her illness. Therefore it’s in the community's concern, it’s in her daughter's welfare [for the council] to share that knowledge,” she explained.

“Numerous people in the area that have been found to have pediatric illness and I just feel it’s impossible to overlook – it demands examination. This can’t be normal.”

Individual Accounts

Another resident, aged thirty-one, who works in sales and now resides elsewhere, said families merited “complete and utter truth and clarity” from the local authority.

The woman's family member, her sister, succumbed on a specific date after being confirmed to have a specific illness at the childhood. Eve, who fundraised for health organizations, was “one of the most charming, funniest and compassionate” people, the sister said.

Her parent recollects the consequence of the closure of the steel plant on the town, she stated. “She said you were unable to place your palm in front of your face because [of] the red ash.”

“These issues have continued since I’ve probably been about three years old. This duration is unreasonable and it is irresponsibility toward the community members.”

Previous Involvement

Another family member, a local resident, was part of multiple families participating in the legal case against the former government after her infant was diagnosed with a foot condition. Her partner, Derek, was one of the lorry drivers responsible for handling substances from the industrial site. Their situation was shown in a media production, and illustrated the mother beating the dust from her partner's pants.

Gaffney said the campaign group has been reached out to by whistleblowers who were participating in the disposal of substances in the community.