Norwich Finnbar's Force dad determined to keep son's name alive

A bereaved father who helped set up a brain tumour charity after his five-year-old son's death has spoken of his determination to keep his name alive.

Finnbar was a happy, confident boy who had just started school in Hethersett, near Norwich, when he developed problems with his balance.

After months of tests, he was treated for a brain tumour and died in 2016.

"Finnbar wouldn't have wanted us to just stop and not have a life any more," his father Tristan Cork said.

"He may only have been five but he was intelligent and caring.

"I've had a lot of motivation to let people know about him."

He spoke to BBC Radio Norfolk ahead of an adventure day at Eaton Vale outdoor activity centre in Norwich on Sunday, to raise money for Finnbar's Force.

Mr Cork and wife, Claire, set up the charity in their son's name to help children and families going through the same experience.

Finnbar was "into everything" including dinosaurs, superheroes and football, Mr Cork said, but had been finding it tricky to put together Lego and to draw.

"He was feeling dizzy and tired, and the tiredness we put down to just starting school," he said.

"It was all about his balance and co-ordination, not the classic signs of headaches and being sick.

"I started to a gnawing, gut feeling as it got towards Christmas.

"He started to walk like drunk person for 30 seconds or so. I remember we were at a birthday party and he would not got on a bouncy castle and he was in tears.

"He said 'dad, I just don't feel like myself, I don't feel like me any more'."

He described waiting for a diagnosis as "like purgatory", with Finnbar undergoing the rigours of tests and scans at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge.

He said he vividly remembered feeling anxious and helpless while Finnbar underwent a six-and-a-half hour operation to relieve pressure on his brain.

"Given what we have been through, we felt there was a lot of gaps in what was needed [for families], especially with the pressure on the NHS," he said.

"We wanted to do whatever we could do minimise those gaps and help families when they are not getting that help.

"It can range from emotional support to practical things like picking up shopping, to take the pressure off."

Tickets for the adventure day are available from the charity's website.

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