‘This is what we wanted from the beginning’

Ashya King will make his first visit today to the Czech clinic where he is expected to receive the treatment that prompted the legal wrangle over his care.

The five-year-old brain tumour patient has been flown to Prague from Spain after leaving the Materno Infantil hospital in Malaga in Spain, where he has been treated since his parents were arrested more than a week ago.

He was admitted to University Hospital Motol in the Czech capital, while father Brett King was visiting the Proton Therapy Centre Czech (PTC) to discuss the boy’s potential proton treatment.

The Proton Therapy Centre said: “Little Ashya is coming to PTC on September 9 at 8am for the first consultation and examination.”

Ashya was seen being wheeled into the Motol Hospital by medics while his mother Naghmeh stood close by.

The Kings triggered an international police pursuit when they removed Ashya from Southampton General Hospital on August 28.

They were desperate for him to be given the proton therapy, which was not available to them on the NHS.

Speaking after arriving in the Czech Republic, Ashya’s father said they were “just so happy to be here”.

He said: “This is what we wanted from the beginning. Things went from bad to worse at one stage.

“We just want the best for Ashya. He’s got to get through this, he’s got to get better.”

Proton beam radiotherapy differs from X-ray methods by aiming proton beams at cancers. It works by sending charges into cancer cells, with doses of radiation aimed directly at the tumour. At the same time, the treatment spares healthy tissue, particularly tissues and organs behind the tumour.

The treatment is popular because it has a lower risk of side effects, though there is some concern that the long-term impact of the nascent procedure is not yet known.

“Proton beam is so much better for children with brain cancer,” Mr King has said.