Aston Bevington flew across the world to receive tailored treatment to improve his chances of overcoming acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, living in unfamiliar surroundings for seven months
Aston Bevington, who moved to Singapore for seven months, accompanied by his mum and dad, to receive treatment to beat leukaemia(Image: Family of Aston Bevington)
Boarding a plane travelling nearly 7,000 miles from home, Aston Bevington sat in a wheelchair, tired and emaciated. He was heading to a completely unfamiliar destination together with his parents, Sian Mansell and Jason Bevington, in a bid to save his life.
Settling into his seat two days after receiving fit to fly documentation on March 23 last year, the journey to the unknown came after his mum discovered treatment available on the other side of the world. A treatment that would give her son the very best chance of overcoming acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
It was the date December 10, 2024, that changed Aston’s life for good. His family received a phone call to say the then 15-year-old, from Bridgend, had been diagnosed with the cancer.
Once the picture of health, Aston’s sporting prowess saw him playing football for Pontardawe at the time, whilst his rugby talents saw him earn a call up into the Ospreys academy, having played exceptionally for Porthcawl and Bridgend District that season.
His diagnosis came as a huge shock to everyone.
Aston pictured playing football before he received his diagnosis(Image: Family of Aston Bevington)
It first began after Aston woke up one morning with what appeared to be swollen glands in his neck.
His mum thought it was some kind of viral infection, and so initially did not do anything, but when swollen lymph nodes appeared under his armpits and in his groin, a doctor’s appointment was made.
In the two weeks which followed, Aston was exhausted and the swelling in his neck grew. He started feeling sick and had night sweats and was referred to the hospital where they waited a week for an ultrasound, which led to the diagnosis.
Not willing to stand aside, and determined to get the best possible treatment for her son, Ms Mansell stayed up until the very early hours of the morning researching the very best treatment options available for Aston.
“I was relentless,” she recalled. “I was up until three, four, five am in the morning contacting hospitals in Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Israel. I would have parted waters to get Aston the help he needed. When I found National University Hospital, Singapore, I knew I had hit the jackpot.
“When we arrived in Singapore, we didn’t know anyone, it was a foreign country, we were jetlagged, and I had a moment thinking, ‘What am I doing to this child?’ I had taken him away from all of his friends, his family, his girlfriend, absolutely everything that he knows, and I brought him to a foreign country half way around the world.
“But so quickly, even within two to three visits to the hospital, it alleviated that anxiety. The level of care is just wonderful – you get to know them, and it is all so warm and welcoming.
“I had direct contact with his doctors, which is something you just aren’t allowed here. There, I got to liaise with the main man himself, and no amount of e-mails were too much for them. They don’t tell you in the UK that you have other options. I’m so glad that I trusted my gut.”
Aston has been prepped for clinical trials in Singapore, with his cells harvested and a clinical trial drug made read. It has meant he has had a completely tailored and bespoke treatment plan for his cancer.
“That has minimised or eliminated some of the chemotherapy drugs he was receiving in the UK, the toxicity of which, was essentially killing his body,” Ms Mansell explained.
“Aston was just on the brink of a potential football scholarship when he was diagnosed. During one of the conversations that we had with his oncologist, when they stepped him up to a most severe protocol, I asked whether Aston would ever be able to play football again, and would he be fit enough to play at the level he did previously.
“I was told no, that it would be highly unlikely, because of the long-term lasting, damaging effects of what the treatment was going to do to his body.
“That’s when we made the decision to pack up and go to Singapore. We’d never been there before and it was a culture shock, but we were very lucky to be able to do it.
“One of the first things that happened was we had his cells harvested whilst we were there, which is a key part of the clinical trial, should he need to have it.
“The thing with Aston’s cancer is, if chemotherapy doesn’t work, there is nothing else – unless you have access to this clinical trial drug, which is targeted therapy.
“Singapore basically wrote a complete bespoke treatment plan for us, and with numerous different protocols, they discovered he had extreme toxicity to two of the key chemotherapy drugs used to treat his cancer, which would explain the state that we took him there in.
“It never got picked up in the UK, where he was kept pushed into cycle, after cycle, after cycle. His body was dying, he wasn’t just undergoing chemotherapy, the toxicity was building up in him so much that he wasn’t able to recover from each cycle.
“They eliminated one of those drugs, and severely reduced the others. Because we have a clinical trial drug there as a back-up, they can afford to do that.
“The actual clinical trial medication that is used, eliminates the cancer in the body, for some people, within 24 hours, and for other people two to four weeks. It’s shocking really that it isn’t available. It is only available to people who go privately.”
Aston pictured in hospital in Singapore(Image: Family of Aston Bevington)
Ms Mansell explained she felt her son was being treated as “an individual.”
She said: “He would regularly have bloods taken, bone marrow aspirations. If his body wasn’t ready for the next cycle, they would tell him to go away, sit in the sun, do some exercise, eat well, and come back.
“It wasn’t like he was pushed from one cycle to another – it was just a completely different level of care. You actually felt like they were being treated as individuals.
“The seven months was the end of his intensive treatment out there, and he is now entered something called maintenance which is 18 months long, compared to another two and a half years in the UK. In the UK, boys are given an extra years’ treatment.
“Someone once told me that when you are having private chemotherapy or private care, the quality of the drugs is different, and I don’t know if that’s true, but he took certain drugs in Singapore that he had also taken in the UK, but he didn’t have any of the side effects.
“We’ve effectively taken a year off his treatment, and reduced some of the key chemotherapy drugs which would have created a level of disability within Aston through their toxicity by 35 to 40%, so we’ve taken out quite a lot of harmful, unnecessary medication.”
Ms Mansell said she noticed “significant” improvement in her son thanks to the treatment he received.
“When we first took him there, Aston was really, really sick,” she said. “He was experiencing tiredness, which is to be expected when he is receiving treatment, but the ulcerations, oesophageal ulcers, not being able to eat, his skin being in a bad condition, not being able to get out of bed – none of that happened. He would come most evenings for dinner, he would exercise when he could, the changes in him were significant. He was completely different.
“I’m so proud of him. He is your typical 16-year-old, he doesn’t say much, and is a child of few words, but he has shown a strength and resilience that I honestly did not know he possessed. He literally got his head down and got on with it.”
Aston and his family finally returned to Wales on October 28, and he is back enjoying all of his home comforts once again.
His mum currently administers his maintenance chemotherapy at home, he has his bloods taken here, and his family liaise with Singapore every week.
Aston pictured reunited with his friends(Image: Family of Aston Bevington)
She said: “It has been a process adjusting back into life back home, but he’s gone to watch the rugby with friends, he’s managed to go football training, he has got hair again, he’s learning to drive – even being able to sit there in the same time zones with his friends has been a big thing for him.
“He was completely nocturnal in Singapore, because we were seven hours ahead there, so the only way he had any kind of company of anybody his own age would be to stay up throughout the night. I feel like he feels like he’s getting his life back.”
Aston, now 17, made an appearance playing football for Porthcawl Youth in December, a monumental personal moment in his story.
Aston pictured returning to the football field after his time receiving treatment in Singapore(Image: Family of Aston Bevington)
“Watching him on the football pitch, that was an epiphany moment, that we had done it,” Ms Mansell said. “I don’t want to say that too prematurely, because of Aston’s situation I don’t want to tempt fate, but in my heart, at night I can sleep now. I don’t think I slept much at all the first four months after Aston got diagnosed. I just knew something wasn’t right.
“Coming home, it’s washing over us now. We’re still a long way from the finishing line – Aston has got a further 18 months of treatment, and we’ll be travelling back to Singapore.
“It (Aston’s first football game back) was monumental for us. It was only 15 minutes against a local team, to go on the pitch and kick a ball, and he nearly scored a goal – so he’s obviously still got it! It was lovely, as it was almost a year to the day that he got diagnosed that he was able to play again.
“I just can’t believe we’ve done it. The past year has been such a whirlwind. And when I tell you we’ve been up against it, we were up against it. There was no good news anywhere for us in the UK.
“Walking our son back through the airport seven months later, with his weight back on, looking healthy and radiant – we did it.
“The support we’ve received has completely restored my faith in humanity. We’re a small community, but we’ve had such support from people putting on events, fundraisers, schools going on walks and making bracelets, pubs doing quiz nights, balls, rugby teams buying Aston’s Army shirts in bulk, it’s just been really heart warming.
“The level of support we’ve received is unlike anything I’ve seen before, and sometimes from people who didn’t even know you, going to all kinds of lengths to show their support.”
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