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Alison Gaffney and Fraser's father faced life-altering news in 2018 when their young son their child was found to have a unusual variant of leukaemia.

Two years of demanding therapies ensued, involving cancer medications, radiotherapy, and immune system treatments before a bone marrow procedure. Fraser, by age three, made a remarkable improvement from the procedure, with doctors declaring the disease in regression.

It was at this point that Gaffney, in her mid-thirties, began investigating causes. She could not stop thinking about comments made by healthcare workers at the time of her son’s diagnosis. “We're tormented wondering how he got his disease,” a doctor had informed her.

“We can't sleep wondering how our son got his disease,” a specialist had shared with her.

Background Information

The negligent management of vast quantities of hazardous substances after the cessation of a major industrial facility in the town in 1979 had “long been recognized,” said the mother. A 2009 civil case connected the improper remediation efforts of the site to a string of developmental issues in town residents during the 1980s and 1990s.

Over time, Alison started to connect the case to her own. “[The disease] is not hereditary,” she stated. “So what are the reasons? … It has to be down to the area. All these kids [with] illness.

“Every resident is acquainted with a person who’s got a youngster [with] cancer. That's unusual.”

Collective Efforts

Alison and Andy started to contact additional households in their community with similar stories – featuring some of the mother's ex-school friends at a local school – and the group began compiling thorough information on those impacted. They now spearhead a movement representing about many parents with cases of youth disease starting from 1988.

The group has been pressuring the town council to research any connections between instances of pediatric illness in the town and the closure of the plant. At the end of this month, health authorities are set to publish their study of whether the area has had a unusually high rate of instances of pediatric illness for its inhabitants of 70,000.

“Our only goal is to work to secure coming generations so they can avoid the hardship that we've experienced,” said Gaffney.

Previous Cases

The judgment in the legal case recognized that, between the 1980s and 1990s, vast quantities of toxic substances from the manufacturing site were moved “regularly” from the one area to a designated site in the north – with “large quantities” of hazardous materials transported and dumped on public roads and “considerable amounts” of airborne particles produced by the cleanup.

Nonetheless, it also mentioned findings from the environmental authorities in 1997 that found accumulations of hazardous waste that had been left at Deene Quarry were later removed in “substantial volumes”.

Growing Suspicions

Alison suspects waste was not only dumped at the Deene Quarry site but in additional areas of the municipality. Recently, she welcomed a “significant progress” after municipal government said it would analyze ground that could be contaminated and investigate where contaminated substances was dumped.

Gaffney said government representatives acknowledged in the conference that they were unaware where the areas of toxic materials could be. “They explained: ‘We don’t know where these sites are. We have no documentation, there's no data available.’”

Public Endorsement

The official statement was also welcomed by Tonia Shalgosky, a school staff member at a local school, whose nine-year-old daughter, the child, was found to have a hematologic malignancy in recent months.

“I had to shave my nine-year-old daughter's scalp because her locks was falling out from the drugs she had to administer to kill her illness. Therefore it’s in our interest, it’s in her daughter's welfare [for the council] to reveal that knowledge,” she stated.

“Numerous people in the area that have been confirmed to have pediatric illness and It seems it’s too much to ignore – it needs looking at. This can’t be normal.”

Personal Stories

Another resident, in her early thirties, who is employed in business and now resides elsewhere, said parents deserved “full transparency and openness” from the government.

Her family member, Eve, succumbed on a specific date after being diagnosed with a specific illness at the age of nine. The girl, who raised awareness for cancer charities, was “exceptionally lovable, entertaining and kindest” people, the sister recalled.

Her parent remembers the impact of the shutdown of the industrial facility on the area, Lyons said. “She recalled you couldn’t put your fingers in before you because [of] the colored dust.”

“These issues have continued since I’ve probably been about early childhood. It's too long and it is irresponsibility toward the people of Corby.”

Past Associations

Another family member, a community member, was among numerous households involved in the court proceeding against the previous administration after her infant was born with clubfoot. Her partner, Derek, was one of the truck operators involved in transporting materials from the manufacturing facility. Their experience was portrayed in a television program, and illustrated Maggie beating the dust from her husband’s jeans.

Alison said the campaign group has been contacted by individuals with information who were responsible for the dumping of waste in the town.