Gyles Brandreth reveals doctors initially dismissed his one-year-old grandson's cancer as he reflects on how the family 'stayed positive' and he got used to not 'bursting into tears' every time he visited the hospital

Published: 15:04 EST, 12 November 2026 | Updated: 15:06 EST, 12 November 2026 Gyles Brandreth has revealed the doctors initially dismissed his one-year-old grandson's cancer as he reflected on the difficult period after six years.The TV presenter's grandson Kitt was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue sarcoma, in April 2017 when he was 15 months old after his parents found a pea-shaped lump near his stomach while changing his nappy.Gyles's writer daughter Saethryd and her Army veteran husband Mark were initially told by a GP that the lump was likely to be a cyst or a hernia, but it was later revealed to be cancer. Reflecting on the difficult time in his family's life he confessed that initially health professionals didn't take Saethryd's concerns seriously. Explaining that they got through it by 'staying positive' he added that he had to get used to not 'bursting into tears' every time he visited the children's hospital. Speaking with Lorraine Kelly on the Experience Is Everything with Saga podcast, Gyles explained: 'And then 10, 11 years ago.. along comes our youngest grandchild, a boy called Kitt, and his parents discover when he's about one that he has a babyhood cancer that he was born with.'And there's the usual anxiety at the doctors where the first GP dismisses it. Gyles Brandreth has revealed doctors initially dismissed his one-year-old grandson's cancer as he reflected on how the family 'stayed positive' during the difficult time The TV presenter's grandson Kitt was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, in April 2017 when he was 15 months old after his parents found a pea-shaped lump near his stomach'Fortunately, our daughter persists in anxiety and eventually does go against the rules and goes to A&E where they do take him more seriously and the good news is that eventually he ends up at Great Ormond Street and it is a story which for our family has a happy outcome.'He continued: 'It was the first time I was confronted by a challenge but the challenge was my daughter's challenge and our son-in-law's challenge.'It wasn't our story. It was their story. We were impacted on it, but all we could do was help. 'What I didn't realise was that that the hospital, they like a parent to stay the night with the child. We're talking about a year that he was there, which is pretty stressful. But Michèle [Gyles' wife] often was doing the nights, which I didn't do. It tested them severely.'Gyles added: 'So how did we cope? By simply I think staying positive, staying there when required but out of the way when not required. And I think I hope making it about them and not about us.''You had to get used to going into the hospital, he was in two hospitals, and not bursting into tears seeing all these little children with no hair and all of them so positive.'Gyles confirmed that Kitt has now had his five-year all clear but is still checked on a regular basis.Fewer than 60 children are diagnosed with the soft tissue sarcoma in the UK each year. He said: 'His parents discover when he's about one that he has a babyhood cancer that he was born with. And there's the usual anxiety at the doctors where the first GP dismisses it' Kitt was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), where he had chemotherapy which caused him to lose his hair, and had several blood and platelet transfusions (pictured with his mum Saethryd)Kitt was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), where he had chemotherapy which caused him to lose his hair, and had several blood and platelet transfusions. He also suffered a bacterial infection which affected his heart and liver.Previously speaking about Kitt's cancer back in February , he said: 'Kitt's diagnosis was a shock to the system. We think of cancer as something that happens to unlucky middle-aged people.'You think of breast cancer or prostate cancer and older people, but you don't think of kids - well, we didn't. I think we didn't realise what a long journey it was going to be.'But I have to say the moment we heard Kitt was going to Great Ormond Street we felt reassured because of their world-class reputation.'There was the sense that whatever needed to be available would be available.'