Boy, 4, diagnosed with shock disease after crying all night with leg pain
Parents of a young boy said they knew "something was serious" when he was crying with leg pain before being diagnosed with leukaemia.
Callum Wright and Emma Cox, from Cheshire, say their four-year-old son Jaxon has been constantly sick ever since he was born but they never expected that he'd be diagnosed with acute leukaemia - just weeks ago. "Jaxon was born during the pandemic and has always had a weak immune system. He was always ill with the sniffles and colds," said Callum.
"Recently, he started to get out of breath, saying that his chest was hurting. We couldn't get a GP appointment so we had one over the phone. They gave us an inhaler but it didn't really make a difference. Then on January 14, Jaxon became more ill and was up all night crying with a pain in his leg. It was then that we knew something was serious."
Callum, 23, and Emma, 24, took Jaxon to the doctor where they say he was referred to the hospital. Callum continued: "They took his bloods and told us it looked like leukaemia. We were sent to Alder Hey where they did more tests and a biopsy. He was diagnosed on January 18.
"It's really hard and we're very emotional. There's nothing worse than hearing your child has cancer and it's just not something we ever thought we'd have to look out for. "
Baby boy has spent his life in hospital as doctors are 'scared' to discharge himJaxon has since started chemotherapy treatment to fight his cancer while mum Emma has had to stop working: "It's been a rough couple of weeks but we're staying positive and staying strong as a family. Our daughter, Zara, who is six, is always asking to help and to play with him," Callum told the Liverpool Echo.
"Emma has stopped work and I've been limited in my job but work and everyone has been very supportive. We're playing this day-by-day and hoping the treatment goes well. [We want to] share our story and raise awareness of blood cancers such as leukaemia to others."
Callum's good friend, Harry Molyneux, is taking a group of hikers to walk the 34-mile Sandstone Trail in a day in order to raise funds for the family's expenses and bills while they get Jaxon better. For more information on sponsoring the walk, click here.