Laura and Dave’s son Max was seven years old when diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in May 2023, having been unwell for several months before.
Laura said:
For a couple of months, he just wasn't himself. He was extremely lethargic. He'd literally walk upstairs and fall asleep on the stairs. And Max is such a confident, outgoing child and he is full of energy. He'd had multiple sickness bugs as well and he just kept picking up every bug going. And then he started coming up in all these unexplained bruises.
One evening, after the bruises appeared, Laura took Max to the hospital on the advice of 111, where after suffering a seizure and having a really high temperature, he was diagnosed with sepsis.
Max would spend a week in hospital, during which time his bone marrow became suppressed. Over the coming months, he was carefully monitored with blood tests to check his bone marrow was repairing itself as it should have been.
Laura explained that the possibility of Max having leukaemia had been raised, but his blood tests weren’t showing conclusive evidence of the disease.
She said:
They said they’d monitor it every week just to make sure that when his bone marrow wakes up after the sepsis, that it will basically repair itself. We were going for weekly bloods, and we were told it was doing what it needs to be doing, but they’d keep monitoring him. He went back to school. He had his birthday party. And then on the fourth week, we had his bloods done in the afternoon, went home, and then about eight that night, we got a phone call saying we needed to go to A&E. We got him out of bed, went in and then taken to a side room and sat down and told he's got leukaemia. It was a massive shock.
Treatment began quickly, but despite nine months of chemotherapy, autoimmune therapy, transfusions and various other gruelling procedures, Max’s cancer was still present, meaning and he would need a bone marrow transplant – without which, his chance of survival was just 10%.
This required Laura and Max to move away from home, which Laura described as a particularly difficult period.
“We had to move away from home for five months to a completely different city, hours away from home,” she said. “It was complete isolation away from his brother as well. It was really tough.”
Football-mad Max, now nine, finished treatment in May 2024, and while being closely monitored, is recovering well.
Laura said:
He's doing really well. He's coming up to 15 months now post-transplant, so 15 months cancer-free. It was a bumpy ride. Nothing was easy. But he's at sports club now, he's back to running around. He's not as fit as he used to be, or as he'd like to be. But he's getting there.
With around 400 children developing ALL in the UK each year, Laura is keen to highlight the impact this has on a family, as well as to help other children diagnosed with the disease in the future.
After Max had finished his treatment, Laura set up the #TeamMax ALL Fund, a Special Named Fund at CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association, to raise money for research into ALL.
Laura said that she first became aware of CCLG’s work after being supported by the charity’s information resources during Max’s treatment, and now she wants to raise funds for, and awareness of, the charity.
She explained: “CCLG’s information was one of the first leaflets we were given.
“When Max got diagnosed, the doctors said don’t google anything. CCLG’s leaflets explained exactly what each individual treatment is, what leukaemia is, what his type of leukaemia is.
“So, we've always gone to their page and website, rather than googling.
“As a parent, I want to raise awareness and funds for future projects to ensure children who receive a cancer diagnosis stand the best chance of recovery.”
With support from family and friends, #TeamMax has already raised £5,000, and have contributed to the funding of a CCLG’s research project.
During Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (CCAM) this September, Max’s brother, Ronnie, 11, is cycling 60 miles through the month to raise further funds, while on Friday, 19 September, Laura is hosting a special evening of entertainment at Rivets Social Club in Aylesbury, featuring an auction, a raffle and a DJ and disco.
Max and his brother, Ronnie
She said:
Everyone’s welcome. It's a chance for people to come along, let their hair down a little bit, have a drink, and have a dance. For us, especially after the last two years, we've been really isolated, so it's a chance to get everyone together, whether we know them or we don't, raise some more money and awareness again, and just have a good time dressed up to the nines.
The fundraiser begins at 7:00 and finishes at midnight. Tickets are priced at £10, including a free glass of prosecco, and are available on the door or by messaging Laura on Instagram.
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