Boy remains hopeful for pandemic travel for required critical treatment

Click here for updates on this story

    FAIRWAY, KS (KCTV) — There are few people that didn’t root for Alexander Goodwin, the little boy from the UK that came here to the metro for live saving cancer treatment.

Goodwin and his family routinely fly back to Kansas City for his continued care, but the pandemic is making those critical visits difficult, if not impossible.

When Alex had his life-saving surgery in Kansas city three years ago, it was a given that he’d be back every four months for the required scans to make sure his cancer isn’t back and to help “grow” his leg as he continues to grow. But, the earliest he’ll be able to get back will be six or seven months after his last appointment, and his parents are worried.

“We’ve got two more weeks and then we’re heading for going back and I’m really happy that I’ll be a year eight, ” Alexander said.

Alexander is like any other kid right now getting ready to head back to school after an extended break brought on by the pandemic.

He and his father chatted with KCTV5 News over Zoom from the UK, Alexander proudly sporting his KU T-shirt.

All fun aside, Alex has much more on his mind than most kids as he continues to recover from Ewing Sarcoma.

It was the summer of 2017 when KCTV5 brought you the story from inside the operating room at the University of Kansas Health system as doctors replaced Alex’s hip joint, knee joint and femur with a state of the art prosthetic.

The implant has magnets inside that are hooked up to a device every few months to “grow” with Alex. It’s a procedure that must be done at KU, and for Alex, it also includes scans to ensure his cancer has stayed away.

For the last three years, the family has flown in from the UK — many times thanks to the generosity of donations from around the world and from the airlines themselves, but the pandemic brought those travels to a screeching halt.

Alex was last here in March and barely made it back before travel ceased.

“That was literally like a cannonball run to get over there …and now we should’ve been going back,” said Jeff Goodwin, Alexander’s father.

The Goodwins are counting on the understanding of the US Embassy in London to give them the exemption they need to travel here, something they say they feel confident they’ll get, but there’s been a setback.

Alex has an appointment in September at KU, and the family recently learned that flight was canceled.

Now, they’re hoping to get help from Angel MedFlight to make that September appointment or they’ll have to wait until October.

Alex is in physical therapy in the UK three times a week, but it’s getting harder for those therapists to do much good since he’s growing so quickly.

“Every day is just an extra thing to consider and worry about because Alex is that age now where he’s growing so rapidly and it has an adverse effect on his balance … his gait, hips … how he walks and moves himself and obviously the pressure it’s putting on his tendons,” Jeff Goodwin said.

The family is waiting for answers on how and when their now 13-year-old boy will be back in Kansas City to continue his journey of healing.

“We’re at a point now where we need to get back to treatment otherwise Alex is going to invariably deteriorate which is something that we can’t allow to happen,” Goodwin said.

And while that painful wait continues, the little boy that stole so many hearts remains ever grateful that so many have embraced him.

“You guys helped us so much over there, and I’m just blessed to have such great people in my life,” he said.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.