'He loved it' - Hartlepool boy's first day at school just months after brain tumour diagnosis

The excited three-year-old Hartlepool boy loved every minute of his first day at the town’s Fens Primary School where he got to play on the slide and mix with the other boys and girls.

His first session went so well that he is now going to the school four afternoons a week before continuing his weekly chemotherapy on Fridays.

Noah had a test day at school on Tuesday this week when he went in to nursery for an hour.

It went like a dream, said proud mum Abbieleigh Griffiths.

"He went in the doors and the teacher said ‘are you going to say goodbye to your mam? He went straight in! He loved it.”

Abbieleigh praised the staff at Fens Primary and at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, where he receives his treatment, for tackling every eventuality before Noah’s big day.

There were video conferences weeks in advance where care plans and assessments were discussed.

Abbieleigh said: “The school was very understanding but the thing that made me feel really comfortable was when they said ‘Noah can be Noah when he is with us’. He was not being singled out.”

It all led to a very special day for a courageous little boy.

"He played with the cars and the bikes. He went down the slide. When we took him to the park he didn’t like the slides but he did at nursery. He was joining in with the other children,” said Abbieleigh.

Noah has a grade 3 glioma which is a type of tumour which can happen in the brain and spinal cord.

It was discovered when Noah had a seizure in the summer of 2020 and was rushed to hospital for tests including MRI scans.

By complete coincidence, the tests for the seizure also showed up a totally unrelated tumour which was on Noah’s brain.

He faced further struggles last winter when he had chicken pox, an allergic reaction with chemotherapy, and a dislodged port all in a matter of weeks.

But then in March this year, there was a complete change of fortunes for the family from Owton Manor including Abbieleigh, 18, Noah’s dad Jamie Greenhow, 20, and Noah’s little sister Ivy, 2.

They were told that the tumour on Noah’s brain was shrinking and his chemotherapy would end in September if he continued to make progress.

Now comes even more good news. As well as Noah starting at Fens Primary, his little sister is going to the Little Stars Day Nursery in Hartlepool.

And because life has turned around so dramatically, Abbieleigh can resume her driving lessons. She also hopes to return to college where she will study to become a paramedic.

"It is amazing. Everything is picking up,” said Abbieleigh.

To say thank you to one of the causes which has helped them over the months, Abbieleigh and Jamie will be skydiving from 10,000 feet in Peterlee to support the childhood cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

CLIC Sargent had been “so helpful to us from the beginning of Noah’s diagnosis and we will forever be grateful,” said Abbieleigh. The revised date for the skydive is May 1.

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