Family given the news they wanted

Angus Beaton  plays at Akaroa Beach on Saturday after receiving good news from the doctor.  Photo...
Angus Beaton plays at Akaroa Beach on Saturday after receiving good news from the doctor. Photo by Fritha Beaton.
The Beaton family of Arrowtown received the best possible Christmas gift this week when told that youngest member Angus has no visible signs of cancer after months of treatment.

Back home in Arrowtown this week in time for the festive period, the family was contacted on Saturday by Christchurch doctors with the good news.

Angus (5) was diagnosed with soft-tissue cancer earlier this year. It spread to his lungs and various bone sites, which meant months of radiation and chemotherapy treatment, which finished only last month.

The family of four had spent the winter in Christchurch so Angus could have easier access to Christchurch Hospital, and had hoped to be back in Arrowtown permanently at the beginning of the 2013 school year.

The wish came true for mother Fritha, father Gordon and sister Kate (7).

Speaking to the Otago Daily Times yesterday from Invercargill, Mrs Beaton said she was thrilled.

''It is the best news and a great Christmas present,'' she said.

The family arrived home on December 20. Since his diagnosis in May, Angus and his family had been through months of heartache and uncertainty.

When the family first arrived in Christchurch seven months ago, doctors said Angus would only live for two days without treatment.

Then a preschooler, Angus struck a chord with the Arrowtown community as people rallied together with fundraisers, donations and a concert to raise well over $42,000 for the family.

Angus and Mrs Beaton will travel to Invercargill once a week for doctor assessments and blood tests, and Angus will take an oral chemotherapy treatment. Queenstown Lakes District Hospital did not have the necessary facilities.

However, Mrs Beaton was looking on the bright side and said they could both visit and stay with her parents and sister in Invercargill.

''It'll just have to be a shopping trip when we head down,'' she said.

Angus would go through a year of ''maintenance'', but would be able to attend Arrowtown Primary School with his big sister in the new year.

 

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