Parent of brain tumour boy Ashya King hit the headlines when living in Milton Keynes
The now-famous mum of brain tumour boy Ashya King hit the headlines here in Milton Keynes when she was pregnant with him, the Citizen can exclusively reveal.
Determined Nagmeh King donned a placard over her six- month bump and paraded the streets in a bikini during a battle with a private school five years ago.
She and her husband, who braved arrest to get the right treatment for Ashya, lived next door to the Grove Independent School on Redland Drive, Loughton, for several years, and were prominent members of the city’s Jehovah’s Witness community.
A war of words involving lawyers, council official and even police erupted when the school chopped down a boundary hedge, which the Kings insisted was theirs.
The row had rumbled on for five years without any resolution until 2009, when then-mum-of-five Mrs King took matters into her own hands.
“I have walked outside the school with my placards between 8am and 9am every morning,” she told the Citizen at the time.
“I’m not protesting – I’m just spreading the word as a Jehovah’s Witness should.”
Other parents complained as she mounted one protest dressed only in her underwear. But Mrs King insisted she was wearing a bikini.
“It’s not shameful or wrong to wear a bikini when you’re pregnant,” she said.
A neighbour said: “It is a crazy sight –a half naked pregnant woman protesting outside a private school.”
The Kings, who described themselves as missionaries at the time, became even angrier when they replaced the hedge with a fence – and the school removed it, saying it was on their land.
The family was accused of dumping rotting rubbish on the disputed boundary line, hanging washing outside the window of school head Deborah Berkin, and playing loud music during school hours.
Milton Keynes Council confirmed it had been called out several times by the school over dumping, while environmental health officials were monitoring the music levels.
Mrs King vowed she would continue to fight, saying: “The school had no right to take away our privacy.”
Three months later little Ashya was born.
Today Jehovah’s Witnesses across the city are remembering the family fondly and praying for Ashya’s treatment to be a success.
Meanwhile neighbours who once watched Mrs King’s bikini protests are full of admiration for her courage in defying the NHS.
One said: “She is a woman not scared of doing battle. And on this occasion, when she is fighting for her son’s life, we have every respect for her.”
Mr and Mrs King are currently in Prague with Ashya waiting for him to begin his proton beam therapy.
The couple were arrested after taking him out of Southampton hospital last month because the NHS treatment could not cure him.