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A local mother and Fraser's father received heartbreaking news in 2018 when their toddler their baby was confirmed to have a rare type of leukaemia.

Two years of gruelling treatment followed, comprising drug treatments, radiotherapy, and biological therapies before a bone marrow procedure. Their son, at three years old, made a “miraculous recovery” from the surgery, with doctors announcing the disease in regression.

During this period that Alison, aged thirty-six, began investigating explanations. She constantly recalled remarks made by medical professionals at the time of her son’s diagnosis. “We're tormented wondering how Fraser got his cancer,” a consultant had informed her.

“It keeps us up at night wondering how he got his cancer,” a consultant had shared with her.

Historical Context

The negligent management of vast quantities of contaminated waste after the shutdown of Europe’s largest steelworks in the town in 1979 had “long been recognized,” said Alison. A court ruling associated the council’s negligent clean-up of the site to a cluster of congenital abnormalities in town residents during the previous decades.

Increasingly, Alison started to link the situation to her own. “[The disease] is not genetic,” she explained. “So what are the reasons? … It has to be down to the town. All these kids [with] cancer.

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

Grassroots Movement

The parents started to connect with more parents in Corby with similar stories – featuring some of Alison's ex-school friends at Brooke Weston Academy – and the group began assembling thorough information on those affected. They now head a campaign supporting about 130 families with situations of pediatric illness dating back to 1988.

The group has been calling on the local authority to investigate any connections between cases of pediatric illness in Corby and the decommissioning of the plant. Soon, medical experts are expected to release their analysis of whether the town has had a unusually high rate of cases of pediatric illness for its residents of 70,000.

“Our only goal is to work to secure subsequent residents so they do not have to endure the suffering that we've experienced,” said the mother.

Previous Cases

The judgment in the 2009 civil claim accepted that, between a fourteen-year period, millions of tonnes of hazardous waste from the manufacturing site were relocated “typically” from the one area to a specific location in the north – with “large quantities” of contaminated substances moved and dumped on local thoroughfares and “substantial quantities” of particulate matter created by the reclamation.

Nevertheless, it also referenced documents from the Environment Agency in 1997 that discovered accumulations of hazardous waste that had been left at the site were later taken away in “substantial volumes”.

Expanding Concerns

The campaign leader believes toxic substances was not merely deposited at the Deene Quarry site but in additional areas of the municipality. Recently, she applauded a “important advancement” after municipal government said it would test land that could be polluted and study where contaminated substances was deposited.

The mother said local officials confirmed in the meeting that they were unaware where the areas of hazardous substances could be. “They said: ‘We don’t know where these areas are. There are no records, we have nothing on it.’”

Community Support

The council’s announcement was also embraced by another parent, a educational worker at a elementary institution, whose young child, the child, was confirmed to have a hematologic malignancy in June this year.

“I needed to cut my nine-year-old daughter's scalp because her hair was coming out from the treatments she had to use to kill her disease. Therefore it’s in everyone's benefit, it’s in Bella’s interest [for the council] to disclose that data,” she explained.

“Numerous people in the community that have been confirmed to have youth disease and I just feel it’s cannot be dismissed – it needs looking at. This isn't typical.”

Personal Stories

A community member, aged thirty-one, who has a professional career and now lives in London, said families merited “full transparency and openness” from the government.

The woman's young sibling, the girl, passed away on a specific date after being confirmed to have a uncommon malignancy at the age of nine. Her sister, who collected money for health organizations, was “one of the most adorable, funniest and caring” individuals, the sister said.

Her parent recalls the effect of the cessation of the manufacturing site on the community, Lyons said. “She mentioned you could not position your palm in front of your face because [of] the particulate matter.”

“This has been going on since around about my youth. It's too long and it is negligence toward the people of Corby.”

Historical Connections

Another family member, Maggie Mahon, was part of multiple households participating in the court proceeding against the previous administration after her baby was had a congenital issue. Her husband, the man, was a member of the vehicle operators participating in removing waste from the steelworks. Their story was portrayed in a media production, and illustrated Maggie beating the particles from her husband’s jeans.

Alison said the collective has been approached by informants who were participating in the disposal of materials in the town.