Family and friends remember brave four-year-old, George Radcliffe

A little boy who smiled and danced his way through treatment for a rare form of cancer has lost his brave battle with the disease.

Four-year-old George Radcliffe, who lived with his parents Lisa and David in Isleham, died at the East Anglian Children’s Hospice at Milton on October 14, just 18 months after he was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS).

George underwent nine rounds of chemotherapy, aggressive surgery and weeks of daily radiotherapy, but in May this year the disease returned

“The hospital appointments stopped and we were gently passed to the hospice at Milton for ongoing care,” said Lisa.

“George smiled and danced his way through his treatment, bouncing back from the challenges and showing incredible strength which resonated with all who met him.

“He was very loved,” added Lisa.

George’s funeral was held at Isleham Parish Church on Friday and was followed by a Memory Walk around Chippenham Park for family and friends to come together and share their memories of George. On the previous day, George’s parents and close friend Katie Bullen took the difficult decision to go ahead with a big play date, arranged some time ago for half-term, to provide a morning of fun and games for children including some from the reception class at the village primary school which George had joined in September.

Hundreds of children and their parents turned up at The Beeches Community Centre in Isleham to enjoy activities including face painting and hair braiding along with stalls, a raffle, cake sale and refreshments.

The event raised £5,730 which will give a boost to the Just George page set up on the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) site at specialnamedfunds.cclg.org.uk/just-george to raise funds specifically for research into RMS.

“If this fund could go any way towards helping other families battling this horrendous disease then George’s incredible fight will have been for something,” said his mother.

“It could have been a very sad occasion,” said Katie, “but many of the children were too young to understand and people who knew him were able to remember a joyful, wonderful little boy.”