CANCER patient Ashya King looked happy and smiled when the Olive Press paid a visit to his Costa del Sol home this week.

Playing with his brothers and sisters, he is clearly showing signs of progress since moving back to his Casares home following treatment in the Czech Republic.

“Ashya’s doing really well, he is happy and smiling again,” his father Brett told the Olive Press at the three-bedroom luxury apartment at Casares del Mar.

“We are so glad to be home and have the family back together at last.”

He continued: “We are so grateful for all the support we have received from people here in Spain as well as from around the world.”

He was later seen with his family shopping in Corte Ingles, in Puerto Banus, looking happy and relaxed.

Brother Naveed meanwhile has also posted a moving video to his YouTube account to show Ashya’s recovery since he received ‘successful’ proton beam therapy in Prague last month.

The five-year-old will now continue to be treated at the HC Marbella where Argentinian specialist Doctor Hernan Cortes-Funes is in charge of his health plan.

Ashya hit world headlines in August when his parents, Brett and Naghmeh, discharged him from Southampton General hospital sparking an international manhunt.

Following their brief arrest, the Kings were reunited and Ashya was allowed to fly to Prague to receive the treatment his parents had chosen for him.

 

 

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37 COMMENTS

  1. The relentless PR machine of this family rumbles on. He has had the therapy and now looks better. Well here’s a fact: if he had received no further therapy after surgery he’d look better now than he does. Proton or radiotherapy is not some kind of tonic. It is quite destructive. That is its point.
    What is it with the Kings? Who runs their PR? What does he do for a living anyway? A “property developer”? Really? Has anyone googled him? Where is the back story? Do the kids actually go to school or just get dragged around the world on some endless “mission”. I would say that if something looks odd then it quite possibly is. It’s too late now to do anything about the risk they have put their poor child under, and who knows how it will come out (30% more risk of tumour return because of what they have done) but in my opinion this family needs exposing for what they really are, whatever that is.
    Finally, I love when King said on the news that the doctors are commenting on things they don’t understand. He’s not a property developer any more then – he’s a physicist. Wake up people.

  2. Curious, a young by with a tumour – fact
    He has been treated with a better method only because of the action he parents took – fact
    He is better than he was – fact
    There are trolls like you that are jealous for some reason that is beyond me – fact
    Don’t stoop so low, a young child is / was ill.
    Do I care if the parents are not 100% all above board with everything in life – no.

  3. I do not know what is in their bank account but I did read that the cancer charity did not pay them the collected cash as this was paid for by the UK Government. Most papers just copy and paste troll messages they find on the internet to sell papers, they don’t actually have the time or resources to check any stories, then people read all these pasted articles that may have a little or no truth and then repeat them here. I remember the first TV messages about this case, ”the people are Jehovah’s Witnesses and do not want treatment for their son”, remember that? Oh, that was not true was it, they took him for treatment didn’t they. On the financial side I can’t comment but people stating troll messages with no proof is just repeating something you know nothing of. How do you know they have £200k from donations, did you read it somewhere!! Maybe they have, maybe they have not, but let us not jump on more false allegations.

  4. Of course, as a parent you would do anything for your children and the King’s cannot be blamed for any of their decisions. The wider point is that lots of children have this condition, and similar conditions, and I am not sure if they all received the funds to enable them to get the best treatments. Similarly, many children are abducted and yet they didn’t receive an investigation on the same scale of Madaleine McCann, for example. That must be very depressing for the parents involved. Is the reason because some parents are much more persistent, or educated, or better at managing the press?

    It is this disproportionate level of care/investigation that concerns me, not the parents personal actions to help their child. Life is unfair.

  5. So the people who have a different point of view are trolls! I take it you haven’t been reading the latest news where the info re. refusing ongoing chemo was revealed by the Prague named Doctor in the guardian.The amount of money collected came from his Brothers own website, one charity alone handed over £30,000. There was at least 3 websites taking donations.

    I see they are now living in a 3 bed luxury apartment. Have they come up in the world.

  6. @Reap – ooh I touched a nerve there. Good. I like facts so heres a few more:
    You were correct about: “a young boy with a tumour – fact”, but not much else.

    “He has been treated with a better method only because of the action he parents took – fact”. I’m afraid not. No evidence of better method of treatment for this condition and scant questionable evidence of lower side effects. As yet completely unproven. Secondly, if the EAW hadn’t been enacted they would still be floundering in Spain with a child who should have had whichever form of radiotherapy weeks before he eventually got it. The treatment largely irrelevant anyway because contrary to your assertion, they have refused therapy – the chemotherapy, that is recommended the world over. Without this the chances of long term recovery are severely diminished. Did you miss that?

    “He is better than he was – fact”. Well, true but I hope you are not making the assertion that the proton therapy has anything to do with that. You are witnessing normal post-op recovery.

    “There are trolls like you that are jealous for some reason that is beyond me – fact”. What I am wondering is why a family would avoid treatment for their child then go on a mass media campaign. Then I am wondering about their motives and cannot see anything on them, which I find odd considering their so called profession. My suspicion is backed up by what I would call odd behaviour but you may disagree on that bit.

    Most comments are ill informed and do not understand the basics of putting a timeline together. They are mostly based on an understandable bias towards a sick child. They are therefore blinkered as to the behaviour of parents that is questionable at best and as various experts have testified has undoubtedly reduced the chances of a full recovery.

    You wanted facts, and the above is factual pretty irrefutable.

    As you are defending them, why do you think they have refused the recommended chemotherapy as part of the prescribed care plan even highlighted in the judges original order at the beginning of Sept?

  7. @paco @fredtastic you are both clearly deluded. If you would be so kind, I would ask you to respond point by point to both of my above posts. You will be glad to know I do not demand an apology, but I think one or two others deserve one from people like yourselves

  8. So, the family are “glad to be home,” in Spain. If Spain is their home then they weren’t entitled to health care on the NHS., where the publicity all kicked off. Proton therapy is available in Spain. I am glad Aysha’s condition is improving but there is something not right about the whole situation. It’s time the parents came clean about their situation and what they were trying to do by going to a hospital in UK which they weren’t entitled to do.

  9. Brett King has quite possibly jeopardised his son’s chances by delaying treatment in the first place and certainly by refusing chemo later.

    Proton Beam isn’t any better for what the boy needed anyway – its strength is treating tumours and Ashya didn’t have one – it had been removed. In any case there is no evidence that it improves outcomes nor causes fewer side effects.

    It’s going to be interesting to see who will pay for all of this treatment now that they are now ‘home’ – probably should be the Spanish system – certainly not the UK NHS.

  10. Proton beam, is the latest methood of removing tumors. It replaces surgery, by focusing in on the diameter & depth of the tumor. It is not suitable for follow up treatment require to kill off any cancerous cells that may remain in the area surrounding the tumour. That is carried out using low dosage radio or chemotherapy.
    Ashya King’s tumor was surgically removed at Southampton General Hospital on the 24th July, with radio/chemotherapy urgently required within 4/6 weeks! Because of his fathers actions, 4 months have passed and he still hasn’t received it!!!!
    I have no doubt that any improvement in his appearance, is due to the normal recovery time, and physiotherapy.
    The whole proton beam farce, was good PR for the center in Prague, and a complete waste of British taxpayers money.
    As to tha legitamacy of the Kings claim for NHS treatment, that should be looked into as well. Their Spanish lawyer says that they have lived in Spain for the last 6 years!!
    The last I heard of them was in Buckinghamshire in 2009, but that’s another story (quite a giggle actually!).

  11. Brett King wasn’t on the Portsmouth Electoral Roll for 2013, but is for 2014 (that is in the public domain).I think the 9 of them arrived in Portsmouth about December. So are they eligible for NHS funding? The above article suggests that they actually live in Casares del Mar.

  12. Everything that has been said by curious and others are known facts which come from the Guardian and other respectable news outlets. Other facts out of the mouth of the Kings, especially the childs elder Brother on Facebook. It is there for all to see/read. If you read the first report on here when the Kings left the UK. it stated many comments from their Spanish neighbours including the info’ that they lived in a small 1’2 bed apartment. The latest article says they are living in a luxury 3 bed.

    Proton treatment is in the early stages and it’s benefit is still unproven. There is a lot of debate in the USA re. it’s effectiveness.

  13. @fred my apologies I had misread your post. I do not however see how the parents cannot be blamed here. For reasons of either naïveté, lack of intelligence or other belief driven thing, they have removed their child from appropriate care and not followed through with a full care plan. I cannot see what is “better” about what they obtained and of course there is the delay too. As you have said, the way they have used the press is totally disproportionate. Apart from that I have no issue with what you said, sorry.

  14. @Curious, thanks for clarifying, but with respect I didn’t say that the King’s “used the press totally disproportionately”. What I said was that some people make the press more than others, and some seem to attract more press, and some even gain benefit from it. I would not blame the parents for doing that, even if they hired a press/PR agent (as some do of course).

    A manhunt was underway for the King’s and that in itself seems to be the trigger for the press coverage here. If they did not have an international arrest warrant issued against them, I personally doubt if the story would have been covered so greatly. There is no coverage of the other poor child who is awaiting proton beam therapy, or indeed many other children in similar cases. This is what I meant.

  15. It was a very slick media campaign complemented by the Brothers videos. I can well believe they have amassed a huge sum. They were paid £60,000 by the Mail for their story and have been silent about sums raised from 2Paypal accounts. Despite this they wanted the Kids Cancer charity to pay their legal fees.

    These sick kids stories are always very emotive. Any criticism of Mishandling of funds is taken as a slight against the poor child when that is not the issue. The fact is that huge unaccountable donations held by parents is not good practice.

  16. More info. has surfaced about the families whereabouts in Southsea. In late May, they leased a large 3 bed appartment, in an upmarket area of Southsea. Naveed’s videos show the interior as not having much in the way of furnishings. An altogether cold, temporary feel about the place (beds propped against the wall etc.). The videos also show the family on weekdays, swanning around the city on their bikes. If they are resident in the UK, why aren’t the children at school and the father working?
    In another video “GOT A NEW CAMERA”, recorded in August this year, Naveed, who isn’t working, has bought a new £600 Canon 60D camera….Hmmmmmm
    By the way Marion, their lawyer, Juan Isidro Fernandez Diaz, is reported as not to be charging for his services. In fact, he has contributed from a fund that he has running.
    The e-mail from Brett King to Mike Hyman (founder of Kids ‘n’ Cancer),on the 12th October, demanding money, is despicable in the extreme!!!

  17. @Altenor you have some interesting knowledge and I have not seen said email.
    @Fred I will re-make the point that if a warrant had not been issued AK would not yet have received any follow up treatment at all. Bizarrely that means he would actually temporarily at least look better than he does now. I know what you mean about certain cases attracting more attention but the Kings have disingenuously organised this in this case.

  18. @Curious, that may be the case, difficult to say after the event, but I still don’t blame the parents for their actions. I don’t understand your point about the child’s appearance; he has undergone treatment and it is his long-term health that is of concern.

  19. Just what treatment do you think he had in Prague? Because it shouldn’t have been proton beam, as there was no tumor for it to focus on, and it is a focused procedure!! The clue is in the word “BEAM”.
    After the tumor was removed at Southampton, Ashya needed a blanket type of treatment such as that provided by chemo/radiotherapy, which destroys any individual cancerous cells remaining in the brain,spinal area. That should have been administered within 4/6 weeks, 4 MONTHS have past and he still hasn’t received it! The Proton Center dosen’t have the facility for chemotherapy, it would have had to be done at the Motol Hospital where he was staying.
    Who is responsible for this poor boys predicament. It certainly isn’t the surgeons at Southampton!

  20. Fred – I blame the parents for their actions – they were precipitate and extremely ill judged. The boy has had an inappropriate treatment (proton beam) that the father ‘read about on the internet’ and has not had the chemo he needs because Brett King ‘believes he doesn’t need it’. What on earth is he basing that belief on? This is absolutely not the way to manage the treatment of a seriously sick child.

  21. @Fred, I have been in a similar position with myself and I am right now with my OH.

    These are not times to panic and make snap bad decisions on matters in which you have no expertise. His actions have seriously compromised his son’s chances of recovery.

    I sympathise hugely with the family’s predicament but they’ve got it very wrong.

    I just sincerely hope the boy comes through it all OK.

  22. Putting aside the emotive story of the child it is obvious to anyone capable of rational thought that the father is playing silly games. The fact he won’t say where he is domiciled and for how long, where his children go to school and what has happened to all the money speaks volumes. His entire story seems to have been made up on the fly and is not convincing. To refuse hs child chemotherapy which was a key part of his treatment and part of the Court’s decision and plan to allow him to Prague is despicable. He is a ‘Property Developer’ who thinks he knows more about paediatric medicine than thousands of other paediatricians world-wide and is prepared to jeopardise his child’s life and chance of cure by about 30% because of his ignorant control-freakery. His whole life-style and story smells and a lot of people have woken up to that fact if they start viewing it dispassionately.

  23. @ Fred I can’t really say much more than please read what @Stevo has put. He is bang on!
    My comment on the appearance is quite simple. Any improvement you are seeing is a) as expected following the surgery he had and b) is absolutely nothing to do with any so called therapy.
    I love the term control-freakery as that’s exactly what’s going on. This isn’t a simple parents know best story. Their actions have been despicable. Everyone they come across from Milton Keynes to Spain to Haiti to Portsmouth seems to “upset” them. Has anyone seen any property that this “property developer” has developed?

  24. Curios are you a top notch scientist a known ontologist a doctor with deep knowledge of different radiation technologies if not if not then you do not know a damm of the subject. As father I would have done anything to save my child and if you do not have the knowlege of this subject you olny only together with other people on this chat expresses your own opinion!

  25. @kb yes I am a top notch scientist, and yes I do know what I’m talking about, and parents despite the fact they care, don’t necessarily have the correct thought processes or knowledge. What if the things you were doing to “save my child” were actually doing them harm?

  26. @kb: Are you suggesting that only a scientist, oncologist or doctor is qualified to make technical medical decisions on Ashya’s behalf? If so you are right. But Brett King is none of those. Although he has no expertise in the area he took it upon himself to determine his son’s treatment including (according to news reports) not allowing chemotherapy. It is to be hoped that the boy thrives in spite of this.

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