LITTLE Tobi Anderson had his whole life in front of him.

He was looking forward to his fourth birthday, had just learned to speak properly and was everybody’s blue-eyed boy.

But Tobi’s short life was cut down by an aggressive cancer, leaving his family bereft.

It had been diagnosed at King’s Hospital in London just seven weeks after the three-year-old fell ill on a family holiday to Blackpool.

When they returned, his mother Sam and grandmother Tracy took him to the accident and emergency department at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.

They say he was turned away and doctors said there was nothing wrong with the boy on three consecutive days.

On the fourth day, Tobi was scanned and water found on his brain. He was rushed to King’s College hospital in London where they drained the fluid and discovered that Tobi had cancer of the brain stem.

He was given just weeks to live and as his condition worsened.

At 4.15pm last Thursday afternoon, Tobi died at the William Harvey in his family’s arms.

Distraught single mum Sam, 20, of Watercress Lane, South Ashford, said: "He was my blue-eyed boy. I can have another baby but I can never replace Tobi. He was just starting out in life.

"I am not angry any more, I am just empty. I am at a loss."

Tobi’s grandmother Tracy Anderson, of Copperfield Close, Kennington, said: "I was angry that we were turned away three times from the A and E.

"It turned out that it was a very aggressive cancer and there was not much anyone could do but we knew he was ill and they didn’t believe us."

Dr Neil Martin, clinical director for Child Health Services at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust said: "Unfortunately Tobi had an exceptionally aggressive malignant brain stem tumour, which, due to the location, was inoperable.

"Diagnosing an illness as rapidly progressive as Tobi’s, in a young child, is extremely difficult as the symptoms change at such a fast rate.

"Even had a diagnosis been made on Tobi’s initial attendance at hospital, it would unfortunately not have changed this very tragic outcome.

"Staff at the WHH have worked closely with the family and we have told them that they can contact us at any time. I would like to offer this invitation again and if possible relieve any concerns at this very difficult time for them.”

There will be a memorial service for the little boy at St Mary’s Church in Kennington at 11.30am on Friday, September 30, followed by burial at Bybrook Cemetery. The family has asked for donations to CLIC – the children’s cancer and leukaemia charity.