Lucica Antohi, 38, from Essex, has been forced to relocate to Spain whilst her 20-month-old son, Matias, continues to undergo treatment for an aggressive tumour on his kidney
A British woman who was concerned for her baby’s health was initially brushed off for having “new mum anxiety” – until her son was rushed into emergency surgery on holiday.
Lucica Antohi, 38, says her son, Matias, looked like he had a swollen tummy after he was born, in January 2024. But doctors told her she was overthinking and had nothing to worry about. However, during a trip to Spain in June that year, he stopped eating and had consistently dry nappies.
The mum-of-two took him to University Hospital, Alicante, where he underwent an x-ray, blood tests and a scan on June 23. Sadly, the tests came back that he had a 21.5-centimetre tumour on his right kidney. Despite medics being able to remove majority of the mass on July 4, of that year, the tumour had returned just one month later.
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Lucica, from Romford, Essex, claims she has been forced to temporarily relocate to Spain due to the waiting list in the UK being too long. Now at La Fe Valencia hospital, Matias has undergone four more operations to cut the mass away, and chemo, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy.
Lucica says medics have said there is nothing more the Spanish hospitals or the NHS can do. She is now fundraising for £20k to help pay for an alternative treatment – called Osimetrinib – in St Jude Hospital in the US, after appealing for help on LinkedIn.
Speaking about their ordeal, the mum said: “This is a parent’s worst nightmare. I have seen my child suffer so much. It’s my dearest hope that our story reaches a specialist out there who can help.”
She added: “Matias is such a fighter, he’s been through so much already and he’s still strong. This is a very aggressive tumour which is growing 28 times faster than normal growth. This Osimetrinib can kill the tumour – he desperately needs this treatment.”
Lucica thought Matias had a swollen belly when he was born on January 15, 2023. She claims she visited doctors over 20 times because of his tummy, a persistent cough and sniffles. Lucica said: “I was told I was anxious, and he was eating well, so I started to convince myself that he was OK.”
Lucica, her partner – who works in construction and doesn’t want to be named – Matias, and their 3-year-old daughter, went on holiday to Alicante on June 1, 2024, when his symptoms became more noticeable. In Alicante, Matias was diagnosed with a mesoblastic nephroma – a rapidly growing tumour in his right kidney, which was bleeding.
“It was very frightening”, Lucica said. “We could see his belly expanding because of the bleeding inside. This cancer is usually picked up in pregnancy, I had lots of scans but it wasn’t diagnosed.” Matias had his right kidney removed and the mass cut away from other organs, on July 4 2024, in Alicante.
Lucica tried to bring him home but claims the waiting list in the UK was so long that she returned to Spain for his next monitoring check up – leaving his sister and dad in England. Back in Alicante Matias was in pain, in the middle of August, and doctors found the tumour had grown again – he was transferred to hospital in Valencia, where he is today.
The tumour was cut away again from his organs and from around one of his arteries, on September 16. It can grow back to 20 centimetres in just a month, Lucica claims. Despite chemo Matias was back in theatre to have the mass cut away again on January 30, 2025.
The tumour was then tackled with radiotherapy – over the youngster’s whole abdomen. Lucica said: “This was so dangerous for him, but it was all we could do, we had to do it.” Doctors moved to immunotherapy, But another scan on June 20 revealed the tumour was still growing fast.
“They said ‘sorry’, but there is no more treatment for him, and the NHS said the same.” The desperate mum took to LinkedIn to seek help. She says numerous clinicians recommended her son try a drug called Osimetrinib which has been used to treat fast-growing tumours in adults but not children.
Osimetrinib blocks a genetic change in tumour cells that speeds up growth. Medics treating Matias won’t give him the drug because Matias is so young and because he has had a lot of treatments, Lucica claims. Last week, on September 24, Matias had more of the tumour cut away and has another operation to remove more of the tumour found in his right lung in early October.
Lucica said: “I would absolutely trial this drug because I’ve been told nothing else will work. I just want to save my lovely little boy. I’m desperate for help. I need to get him to hospital in the USA where they will give the treatment.
“This is the worst situation ever – we are alone in a country where we don’t speak the language and we’re suffering so much. If a doctor trials this treatment for Matias and it works we could be the start of saving many children.”
To donate to the fundraiser visit here.