“Go Arthur go!”
The words of encouragement from his therapists, Jess and Kyrie, aren’t really needed as two-year-old Arthur rolls down the halls of Five Counties Children’s Centre in his mobile stander (mini stand-up wheelchair). He is focused on a mission to find the dinosaurs that have been carefully hidden along the centre’s hallways by Jess and Kyrie.
Arthur giggles. He’s already spotted a dinosaur and slickly manoeuvres his stand-up wheelchair with one, two, three swift pushes of the wheel to get to his destination. Laughing, Arthur takes the dinosaur, deposits it in the pail hanging from his mobile stander, and swiftly wheels on in search of the next. He’s as much at home at his weekly treatment session at Five Counties in Peterborough as he would being an archaeologist in Jurassic Park.
Looking on with a big grin is Arthur’s guardian, Delaney, who knows all too well that smiles and laughter were in very short supply two years ago.
“I felt scared, sad, mad, and like the world has stopped,” Delaney notes, reflecting on those tense days in May 2024 when Arthur (then three months of age) was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer.
Arthur would spend almost 100 days at a children’s hospital in Toronto being treated for his neuroblastoma. The tumour discovered in his chest had wrapped around his spine, compressing his nerves, and leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
Because the tumour was taking all his nutrition and because he spent so long in a hospital bed, Arthur was unable to move, learn, or do things a typical six month old would when he left hospital in the fall of 2024.
Arthur was referred to Five Counties for rehab and recovery from the cancer that had stolen his mobility. Delaney remembers the one thing that never flagged was Arthur’s spirit of adventure and love for life.
“He comes with a larger-than-life personality and absolutely no off switch,” Delaney says of her young charge. “Arthur wakes up ready to love the day, charm the room, and remind everyone that life is way too fun to take seriously.”
That positive mindset, along with the occupational therapy and physiotherapy he has received at Five Counties, has led to a significant course correction for this little boy.
Five Counties clinicians like Jess and Kyrie have helped Arthur to work on his core strength, along with milestones like rolling over and sitting up by himself. These goals may sound small on paper, but for Arthur they’re the building blocks of mobility and the daily foundation for play, learning, and family life.
Jess and Kyrie have also helped Arthur get accustomed (and more agile) in his mobile stander.
VIDEO: “Meet Arthur: A Little Boy with Big Spirit”
“Five Counties has changed Arthur’s life,” Delaney says. “He would not have the mobility he has today without the centre. Five Counties staff supported us through an incredibly difficult time. The treatment plan developed for him through the centre has helped Arthur overcome big challenges and gain confidence.”
There are still many challenges ahead for the family. For Delaney, a big one is accessibility outside the house; so is finding things designed for Arthur’s size. But while small in stature, Arthur is big in determination.
As Delaney notes: “Arthur is proof that big happiness really does come in the tiniest packages.”
The Five Counties team is pleased to be there for the ride — every smile, every push of the mobile stander, and every dinosaur figure discovered along the way.
