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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