Cancer-Free For Christmas

Baxter was on the brink until a stranger gave him the gift of life

- Astha Gupta

Baxter Hutchinson was a bright and energetic 18-year old with the world at his feet.

A top student and state-level soccer player, he had big dreams of a professional soccer career. But no-one could have predicted the devastating turn that would shatter his dreams and change his life forever…

Just three weeks before his high school graduation, Baxter received the results of hospital tests after suffering three months of severe vomiting. Doctors diagnosed him with two medulloblastoma brain tumours, a common and often deadly form of cancer in children.

While doctors removed most of the primary tumour wrapped around Baxter’s brain stem in an 11-hour operation, the metastasised tumour behind his optic nerve near the pituitary gland was inoperable.

Baxter’s mum, Carolyn, could only watch helplessly as her son suffered horrific side effects from his surgery – losing the ability to swallow, speak and even see. He couldn’t feel his arms or legs and became trapped inside his body.

“It was so scary watching him in the ICU,” Carolyn, 47, tells New Idea. “Doctors couldn’t promise when or if he would ever regain his abilities.”