6-Year-Old Nearly Unrecognizable After Doubling Weight Diagnosed With a Brain Tumor a Year Later

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Luke Poga was always a “slight boy” according to his mother, Sam Poga. But from the beginning of 2020 until the middle of 2021, he doubled his body weight. Initially, Poga, a 42-year-old mother of two, attributed the weight gain to the lack of activity during the COVID-19 lockdowns. By the time Luke returned to school in July 2021, he was wearing clothes sized for 11- to 12-year-olds.

He was just 6 years old at the time. “Parents commented that Luke looked different,” she said. “He was always so slight, so it was a noticeable change for everyone who knew him.”

Poga contacted a nutritionist to inquire about a change to Luke’s diet, the Daily Mail reported. Within a few months, there was something else going on: Luke was complaining about his eyes. “He had problems with his eyes and rubbed them saying they were sore,” she explained. “And I knew there was something wrong.”

Poga took Luke to the optician, who referred Luke to the ophthalmology department at the local hospital. They performed an MRI on Luke and found a glioma, a type of brain tumor.

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The bad news kept coming. Doctors told the family that the tumor was inoperable.

“I felt numb and couldn’t take in the information presented to me during the appointment,” Poga recalled to the Daily Mail. “Doctors said the tumor was large but because it was diffused, they couldn’t operate. I remember feeling shocked.”

Although they couldn’t remove the tumor surgically, Luke underwent radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment. He lost most of the weight he’d gained as a result. “His eyesight remained intact, and for some time we enjoyed life as a family, whilst still navigating medical appointments,” Poga said.

Then, at the beginning of 2024, doctors informed the family that Luke’s cancer was terminal and he had just months to live. He died at Watford General Hospital on August 26, 2024. He was 9 years old. 

Four months after Luke’s death, a 10-year-old girl at his school also died of a brain tumor. In response to these tragedies, 300 staff and children from Luke’s school, Summerswood Primary School, are walking 10,000 steps each day in February to raise money for brain tumor research.

“Until you’re experiencing it, you don’t know about brain tumors,” Poga said, per the Daily Mail. “I was taken aback when I heard the statistic that brain tumors kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, yet just 1% of the national spend on cancer research has been allocated to brain tumors since records began in 2002.”

Poga is participating in the fundraising efforts as well. “Walking is something I enjoy doing and so far, this challenge has been a great way to combine my daily walk whilst raising money to help find vital research to find kinder treatments and eventually a cure for this disease,” she said.

She also expressed her gratitude for Luke’s former school community, according to the Daily Mail. “The support of Luke’s school, including the headteacher Sarah Kneller and the parents, teachers and students has been incredible from when Luke was first diagnosed and even now after his passing.”