A MUM has told how she was heartbroken to be told her son’s cough and cold was an aggressive cancer.
Danielle Everson had noticed Kian was “really poorly” before Christmas, but she thought this was from a winter bug.
His pals had all had colds and Covid, with the six-year-old also under the weather.
He was very tired and had become pale, his mum said, but she assumed he’d picked up something from his friends.
Danielle then noticed Kian had purple pinprick marks all over his body on Christmas Day, and worried it could be cancer.
The mum, from Blackwood, Wales, told Wales Online: “He was awfully pale but because he’d been kickboxing with his twin brother, I just thought it was probably because the boys were being a bit rough with him.
“It was only when I noticed he had little purple pin-prick marks over him when I thought I needed help.
“He was so fatigued. He had no energy and kept going back to bed,” Danielle said.
She ended up calling a family member after scouring the internet and confessing “I think Kian has cancer”, but was warned not “to believe everything you read on Google”.
The local GP surgery was closed over Christmas so the mum called 111 and took him to hospital.
Just two hours later Kian was diagnosed with leukaemia, and is now on chemotherapy.
The youngster has early stage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, but it has been caught early.
Medics at the hospital praised Danielle for spotting the signs quickly and acting fast.
She said: “I wasn’t shocked with the news. It’s mother’s instinct, isn’t it? Something kicked in.
“Of course it’s very sad news and not what we wanted to hear but we’re pleased it’s been caught early and we are staying positive.”
‘STAYING POSITIVE’
Kian caught Covid so had to delay treatment, but he’s now started chemo again at the Noah’s Ark children’s hospital in Cardiff.
Danielle added: “We are taking it step by step and hoping the chemo does its job and he reacts well to it.
“He’ll be having chemo for three years so it’s a long process. It’s been stressful.”
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is a type of cancer that affects white blood cells in both adults and kids.
It progresses quickly and aggressively and needs immediate treatment.
This type of cancer is quite rare, with about 790 people diagnosed each year in the UK.
It is the most common type of leukaemia in children, with boys slightly more affected than girls.
Symptoms include pale skin, feeling tired and breathless, night sweats, bone pain, purple skin rashes and repeated infections over a short period.
