Ashya King shows signs of recovery in new video
The brother of brain cancer patient Ashya King has released a video showing his progress after treatment in the Czech Republic.
Brett and Naghmeh King triggered an international search when they removed their five-year-old son from Southampton general hospital in August without medical consent.
They entered a protracted legal battle to get him to the Proton Therapy Centre (PTC) in Prague, with a high court judge approving the move only after the couple had been released from police custody in Spain.
The Kings recently said they would be reluctant to return to the UK and were considering moving to Spain.
Ashya’s older brother, Naveed, 20, has posted a video on YouTube showing the boy undergoing physiotherapy and speech therapy sessions.
In the video, Ashya grabs plastic bricks, spells out his name and demonstrates with his fingers how to play a piano. The youngster, who has bald patches, is seen smiling when he is praised by the therapists.
Naveed wrote on Facebook to accompany the video: “Pictures and words can only go so far. So thought it would be lovely to post another video of his progress. This is of today’s date whilst doing Physio and Speech Therapy! I bet you can all see his progress!”
The PTC has said proton therapy is more effective than radiotherapy as it limits the collateral damage of radiation to other vital organs, such as the heart and liver in Ashya’s case. This would lead to less severe long-term side-effects including heart and breathing problems.
The therapy is not available for him on the NHS, although the health service has since agreed to fund Ashya’s treatment.