A SCHOOLBOY has been diagnosed with an incurable brain tumour after being told his symptoms were caused by "too much screen time". Ronnie Hood, 11, was given just nine months to live in March after doctors discovered he had a diffuse midline glioma . The year six pupil, from Sudbury, Suffolk , had been experiencing unbearable neck pain for a year.
But his family claim a GP simply ordered physio - saying the issue was due to the gamer "playing on his phone too much". When his symptoms didn't improve, and physio exercises left him "crying in pain", Ronnie's parents Vicky, 50, and Nick, 58, pushed for an MRI scan. Ronnie was finally examined in February - and his results revealed a tumour growing "like an octopus" on his brain stem near the top of his spine.
Nick said that finding out his little boy had brain cancer was like "being hit by a bus". "Ronnie wasn't getting any better. He cried in pain and frustration and then had a numbness in his right hand," he said.
"When we got the results of the MRI, we couldn't believe the news that he had brain cancer. It was like we had been hit by a bus. "He's a handsome, confident, and well-loved little boy who was fit and healthy.
How could this be happening?" Most read in Health Ronnie has already undergone surgery and radiotherapy but other treatment options for his rare tumour type are limited in the UK. However, a drug called ONC201 is currently being trialled in the United States and has shown promising results in fighting the mutati.