A UK mom was determined to find out what was really wrong with her son—even after being dismissed by countless doctors.
Melinda Garratt (@melindaajg) posted footage of her one-year-old, Finley, playing at home and being pushed in his stroller on TikTok.
She wrote on the text overlay: “Some people asked me how I knew my son had brain cancer… but in all these clips I had no idea.”
Melinda and her partner Marc Robson thought their toddler was battling stomach issues, but not long after Finley’s first birthday, Melinda began noticing that something didn’t add up.
“One day he was being sick and we had to change his clothes more than usual,” Melinda told Newsweek. “The next day, he couldn’t keep anything down. After a few days… every morning he would wake himself up being sick.”
She and Marc visited Accident & Emergency (A&E) three times, phoned emergency services after a seizure and consulted 12 different doctors. Each appointment ended with reassurances: maybe a virus, constipation or milk intolerance.
But the sickness continued, and when blood appeared in Finley’s vomit, Melinda’s instincts took over the doctors’ reassurances. “I knew I needed to put my foot down and get an answer,” she said. “After trying the original hospital and being told it was just a nosebleed, I tried somewhere else.”
That second opinion changed everything. Within hours, a CT scan revealed a 3-centimeter brain tumor.
In the following 24 hours, Finley was rushed into surgery. The mass was later identified as atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT)—a rare and aggressive brain cancer that affects fewer than 100 children a year, mostly under the age of three, according to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The day of the diagnosis is one Melinda will never forget. After a sedation-assisted CT, staff told her they wanted an MRI because the scan looked “cloudy.”
Soon after, a doctor took the family into a private room. Finley sat in her lap as they explained they had found a tumor.
“I just kept looking at Finley and thinking, they’re not talking about my baby; they’ve got it wrong,” Melinda said. “It was almost as if I was watching someone else.”
Finley went into surgery at 8 a.m. and did not come out until nearly 12 hours later. For days, they knew only that a tumor had been removed. It wasn’t until two weeks later that doctors confirmed the diagnosis: ATRT, one of the most unpredictable childhood cancers.
“I asked if he was going to survive; if he was going to be okay,” Melinda said. “But they couldn’t answer that question. That’s the hardest pill to swallow—we don’t know if our baby is going to live.”
Today, Finley is fighting after two rounds of chemotherapy—each consisting of three cycles—and a stem cell harvest to prepare for high-dose chemo. He is presently on a short break while his blood counts recover.
“He’s almost walking now, and he’s so happy,” Melinda said.
The next stage of treatment, high-dose chemotherapy, will be far more demanding. Finley will be bathed three times a day, have diaper changes every two hours and undergo multiple dressing changes daily in a sterile, isolated hospital room.
Each round will last 28 days. “We’re hoping there are no delays and [we] can be home for Christmas,” Melinda said.
Melinda believes Finley’s story highlights that parents’ instincts must be heard. To other parents, her message is trust your gut.
“You know your own child and when something isn’t right,” she said. Her one regret was not trying a different hospital sooner.
“If you don’t feel like you’re being heard, get that second, third, fourth opinion,” Melinda continued. “Someone will listen. Fight for your child when they can’t fight for themselves.”
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