'Doctors fobbed off my son's chest pain with Gaviscon - but 'bad diet' agony was cancer'

'Doctors fobbed off my son's chest pain with Gaviscon - but 'bad diet' agony was cancer' Mum Ffion Smith said she was 'fobbed off' by doctors who allegedly claimed that her son Ruben should take Gaviscon for his back pain - before tests revealed he had leukaemia A 'heartbroken' mum has claimed doctors told her to give her eight-year-old son Gaviscon for his back pain - only for it to turn out to be cancer. Ffion Smith said that when her son, Ruben Troy, first started complaining of shooting pains in April 2026, she assumed it was down to his love of rough-and-tumble play. But a week later, Ruben suddenly collapsed at his pal's house while playing, and began writhing on floor, screaming in pain. After calling 111 and taking her son to an urgent care centre, the 28-year-old claims doctors "fobbed her off", telling her it was just a sickness bug that would clear up naturally. When Ruben collapsed again, Ffion said they told her to give him Gaviscon, as they believed his chest and back pain was gastritis triggered by a 'bad diet'. The baffled mum-of-four says doctors also told her not to give Ruben coffee - a beverage he doesn't drink. On top of the pain, Ruben also appeared pale, had small bruises on his legs, arms and chest, struggled to walk, and lost one-and-a-half stone After multiple trips to the GP, Ffion pushed for blood tests on June 29 that revealed he had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow. Ruben is now recovering at home after undergoing two rounds of chemotherapy and lumbar puncture surgery. But mum Ffion is still "angry" at how her son's ailments were dismissed - and is urging other parents to speak up if they suspect something is wrong with their child. Ffion, from Northallerton, North Yorkshire, said: "I can't get my head around it, it's so traumatic that it makes me feel sick when I think about it. "It makes me feel so angry that the doctors just wouldn't listen. Some days it'd be really bad and some days it'd be bearable where he'd walk a bit. He would be screaming. "He missed school and couldn't walk. He was in so much pain and we were giving him Calpol and Nurofen but nothing would take away the pain and he'd just lie in bed all day. We took him to the doctors and we were a bit relieved at first because they said he'd got gastritis and they told us to give him Gaviscon. "He was still having the Gaviscon and we noticed it was making no difference and they said 'there's no need for anything else, it's his stomach, it's hurting'. They just said he must have a lot of acid in his stomach and that's what's hurting him. They were saying that it was his diet that was the issue and all that was triggering the gastritis. "He doesn't eat 'well' but we are working on that ourselves. He doesn't eat fatty foods, he eats a lot of potato and bread, that's basically his diet. We didn't really think he had that [gastritis] but we thought 'the doctor said it so they think it is'. "They'd asked what he drinks and we said water. They said 'don't let him drink coffee' and I said 'he's an eight-year-old boy, why would I give him coffee?'. They asked if he eats chocolate, which he doesn't because he prefers crisps. "[At the urgent care centre] I was getting a bit frustrated and I said 'nobody's listening to me, I need someone to take bloods'. I said to the doctor 'why are his legs hurting? It's not just his stomach, it's his chest, his legs and he can't walk'. He turned to me and Ruben's dad and said 'you don't know how painful gastritis is'." Ffion has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay towards essential equipment and care that Ruben needs during his recovery. The mum said she is sharing her son's story to make other parents aware, and added: "We have so much anger inside of us because of how much pain he was in, they completely fobbed us off. It's like life got sucked out of him. He didn't want to do anything, we didn't realise how much pain he was in." "Keep going and don't take no for an answer. You need to speak up and tell them there's something wrong. It was so heartbreaking seeing him going through all that knowing it wasn't what they were saying it was. He used to be so uplifting and be the one to come in and try to make you laugh. I'm hoping when all of this is over he'll ring the bell and be like 'yes I got over it, I've done it'." A spokesperson for NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board said: "We are very sorry to hear about Ruben's diagnosis, and our thoughts are with him and his family at this difficult time. However, it is not appropriate for us to comment on the details of an individual patient's care. "The ICB take any concerns raised by patients and their families seriously. We work closely with providers to ensure high standards of care are maintained for residents in Humber and North Yorkshire."