Boy needing urgent cancer surgery vanishes, High Court hears

The boy's parents preferred to treat him with "Chinese medicine", the court heard

Mr Justice Mostyn said the boy could be in Poland with his parents. (ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

A 10-year-old boy with jaw cancer who needs urgent surgery has vanished, a High Court Judge has said.

Mr Justice Mostyn made a written order stating efforts should be made to find the boy, who could be in his native Poland with his parents.

He granted an NHS trust application for doctors to perform surgery on the boy.

Mr Justice Mostyn said there was evidence the boy left his home with his mother two weeks ago and said the boy's father had boarded a ferry bound for France in the past few days.

A doctor told the judge the boy will die a "brutal and agonising death" within as little as six months if the tumour is not removed "very soon".

The paediatric oncologist said the boy's parents were "very frightened and fearful" he would be disfigured by surgery, and preferred to treat him with "Chinese medicine", the BBC reports.

The surgery could last as long as 12 hours and would require skin and bone from the boy's leg to rebuild his jaw bone, the judge said.

It could result in "lameness", would leave the boy needed false teeth, and he could develop a "lopsided appearance".

As part of his ruling, the judge explained that the boy has a "very rare aggressive" cancer in his right jawbone. The tumour is about four inches long and one-and-a-half inches wide.

He said the paediatric oncologist had said "the cancer will likely invade his nerve system, affecting basic functions such as speaking, breathing and eating.

"His head will swell up grotesquely, his eyes may become closed by swelling, a tracheostomy may be needed to allow breathing.

"Above all, the pain will likely be excruciating. The matter is critically urgent."

According to the Daily Mail, Mr Justice Mostyn stated: "I give full weight to the wishes of (the boy) as well as those of his parents.

"It is a strong thing for me, a stranger, to disagree with and override the wishes of (the boy) and his parents.

"But I have absolutely no doubt that (the boy) must be given the chance, a very good chance, of a long and fulfilling life rather than suffering, quite soon, a ghastly, agonising, death."

The Polish Embassy has been informed.

Mr Justice Mostyn did not identify anyone involved in his ruling.