Tributes paid to 'delightful, lovely and wonderful' Northampton schoolboy who died following 'misdiagnosed' brain tumour

Tributes have been paid to a “delightful, lovely and wonderful” four-year-old boy from Northampton who died after his brain tumour was “discovered too late” by healthcare professionals, according to his parents.

Akhona Moyo, from Far Cotton, died on Friday, November 25 after staff at Northampton General Hospital discovered he had a brain tumour the day before.

Akhona's dad, Howard, said his son had been in and out of NGH and Delapre Medical Centre since August with bouts of “terrible vomiting”, “crying with his hands over his ears” and “hitting his head”.

Following the sudden death of Akhona, Howard has filed a complaint against NGH and Delapre Medical Centre because he feels doctors wrongly diagnosed his son with autism in May 2021 and that “no treatment was given and no proper investigations were done on what was causing the vomiting episodes”.

Both NGH and Delapre Medical Centre have opened enquiries into Akhona's death.

Tributes

Paying tribute to his son, dad Howard said: "My son was a lovely boy. He loved swimming, jumping on the trampoline, playing on the slide. He loved to play. He was a lovely soul. Everybody loved AK. He had lots of friends and was always smiling. Butterfly Nursery loved AK. He loved the Baby Shark song, that was his favourite thing."

Akhona had this year graduated from Butterfly Nursery at Mereway Pre-School.

The nursery team said: "We had the pleasure of getting to know Akhona and his family very well. He was a little boy that was always on the go, who had the most infectious laugh, wonderful smile and gave the biggest hugs. We will all cherish the year we spent getting to know Akhona and are sending our thoughts and love to his family."

After nursery, Akhona started The Abbey Primary School in September.

The Abbey Primary School team said: "Akhona was a delightful boy, with a smile so wide it brightened up any room. As a school community we have many fond memories which we will cherish and hold close to our hearts.

"Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Akhona and those who worked closely with him. We send our deepest condolences to the family at these saddest of times."