Minor Nail Infection Led To Baby Brain Tumour Diagnosis

A newborn baby received a brain tumour diagnosis after medical staff noticed a minor fingernail infection.

Sam Sharp, 39, delivered her son Joey in 2020. Just eleven days later, the infant from Penicuik near Edinburgh went back to the hospital because he could not feed properly, lost weight, and developed jaundice. Doctors investigated a small infection under one of his fingernails. An ultrasound revealed that Joey's symptoms stemmed from a brain tumour.

Ms Sharp works as an orthopaedic nurse. She has since spoken about how her son survived the diagnosis during the Covid-19 pandemic.

'Joey had only been home for a week and we were having visits from the midwife and health visitor every day because his newborn jaundice wasn't improving, he wasn't feeding well and he'd started losing weight,' she said. 'He was also having tiny spasms while feeding but, at the time, the midwives couldn't quite work out what was causing them.'

Once she returned to hospital with Joey, Ms Sharp said doctors noticed a tiny infection in one of his nails 'so small, almost like a grain of sand under the nail.' She added: 'We had no idea then that within hours we'd be facing every parent's worst nightmare.'

Joey was just 11 days old when he received the brain tumour diagnosis after doctors spotted the tiny infection on his nail.

Following the discovery, baby Joey underwent three brain surgeries and nine rounds of chemotherapy. Two operations removed the tumour itself. The third procedure alleviated scar tissue that had stopped drugs from treating his seizures.

Joey suffered from a staggering 30 epileptic seizures a day. He required feeding tubes to eat as a result of the condition. Ms Sharp said that without surgery taking place on the day of diagnosis, he was unlikely to survive.

'I can still remember that conversation as though it happened yesterday,' she said. 'Because it was during the Covid pandemic, my husband Steven had already been sent home under the hospital restrictions, so I was sitting there alone with our tiny baby while doctors explained what they'd found.'

Ms Sharp added that although being a nurse helped her understand medical emergencies, nothing prepares you for hearing words like that about your own child. Thankfully, the hospital staff made sure her husband could return before Joey went to theatre.

Joey had three brain surgeries: two to remove the tumour and one to remove the remaining scar tissue.

Watching your newborn baby disappear through those theatre doors is something no parent should ever have to experience.

During his treatment, Joey took part in clinical trials to help researchers better understand chemotherapy for babies. Specialist doctors also sampled the tumour and discovered it was an aggressive and incurable form of cancer called a glioblastoma.

But on August 4 2021, Joey's family finally received the news they had been hoping for at the end of his treatment. 'Joey was in the children's day ward receiving his final chemotherapy when our consultant walked over to us,' Ms Sharp said.

Joey's mother recalls seeing tears in her eyes during that difficult time. The setting was an open ward filled with other families caring for very sick children, which meant she could not celebrate loudly. Instead, she quietly told us his latest scan showed no evidence of disease. She said they were preparing for the worst, so hearing those words was overwhelming. For the first time in months, they felt like they could finally breathe again.

Now aged five, Joey has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair for long distances. He also has little use in his right hand. Despite all the adversity he has faced, Ms Sharp says her son loves life. He enjoys spending time with his siblings, Carly, eight, and Robbie, one. He has even started school. She added that Joey is their little ray of sunshine. He is the kindest, funniest, and most loving little boy you could ever meet. He fills every room with laughter and never lets anything hold him back.

Since Joey's battle with cancer, Ms Sharp has called on the Scottish government to invest into brain cancer research. She gave them a deadline of 2029 to act. She also signed up to run in next year's Edinburgh marathon to raise money for the Scottish Brain Tumour Research Centre of Excellence.

Scotland's Health Secretary Angela Constance offered her heartfelt wishes to Ms Sharp for sharing her son Joey's brave battle to overcome brain cancer. The Scottish Government shares their desire to further improve cancer survival and is taking action to improve awareness and earlier diagnosis of cancers in Scotland. They published their cancer strategy for Scotland in 2023 with a focus on less survivable cancers such as brain tumours and improving outcomes. They are the only nation in the UK to have a dedicated cancer strategy for children and young people, with work under way to renew this.

Dr Karen Noble, director of research, policy and innovation at Brain Tumour Research, noted that no family should face the uncertainty Sam and her family experienced when Joey was diagnosed at such a young age. They urgently need greater investment in research into childhood brain tumours. Access to these details remains limited, yet the story highlights a critical need for change before 2029 arrives.