Children’s Cancer Institute shared on LinkedIn:
“Townes was a happy, cheeky little boy who could ride a bike before he could walk and was happiest burning around outdoors or spending time at the beach near his home.
‘He was just your classic little boy,’ says his mum, Ainsley. ‘He loved trucks, he loved cars, he loved anything with wheels.’
When Townes was just one, Ainsley knew something wasn’t right. He wasn’t gaining weight, had little appetite and seemed unusually tired. Then, after a small fall, he broke his leg in two places. Eight weeks later, it still hadn’t healed.
‘I’m sitting in the fracture clinic looking at him thinking, there’s got to be a reason. Something is up here,’ Ainsley recalls.
After pushing for answers, scans eventually revealed a 9cm tumour on Townes’ liver plus small spots on his lungs. He was diagnosed with stage 4 hepatoblastoma.
Townes began chemotherapy but it didn’t seem to slow down the energetic little boy they knew.
‘I have pictures of him riding his bike around while he’s getting chemo,’ Ainsley says. ‘He was always running up and down the ward screaming.’
Major abdominal surgery revealed that much of the cancer had been killed off. For a precious time, Townes was able to return home. He swam, played at the beach and was ‘so happy and full of life’.
But soon scans would reveal new lesions on his lungs and five masses on his brain. When further treatment could no longer change the outcome, Ainsley and Jake chose to bring their son home and focus on his quality of life.
Townes died two years ago today, on 11 November 2024, aged just two, surrounded by people who loved him.
His parents want people to keep saying his name.
‘That’s how you hold someone’s legacy – talking about them, keeping them alive. Otherwise you don’t hear their name anymore,’ says Ainsley.
And they want research to keep giving other families more hope.
‘Childhood cancer used to be a death sentence. Now we have better survival rates than ever before. It’s improving, but we can’t do that without research continuing,’ says Ainsley.
‘If we can improve those survival rates, then that’s the most powerful thing a parent can have,’ says Jake.
You can also read: How Lewis Hamilton and F1 Helped Raise £275K for Childhood Cancer Research
