In January of 2020 Joe was taken to hospital and discharged with a fractured kneecap. He was sent home on crutches and told to rest up however over this time his parents noticed a few things that were different to usual; he had lost a lot of weight and his demeanor was very quiet. He had lost interest in his usual hobbies; anyone who knows Joe knows he's usually really bubbly and outgoing.

When he went back for his 6 weeks scan and a routine blood tests, Doctors noticed a very high white blood cell count and an enlarged spleen. For comparison, a healthy person has a white blood cell count of 5-10, Joe's was 185. He was immediately sent to the Oncology ward at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. Joe was very poorly; he had an issue with his hip and later found out he had sepsis. After lots of tests it was suspected he had cancer and was later diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia (CML) and Avascular necrosis (AVN); both very rare conditions to find in children.

This was heart breaking news for both Joe and his family. Less than 15 children are diagnosed with this cancer every year in the UK with less than one person at Joe’s age; the hospital have only seen one other child at Joe's age with CML.

CML changed Joe’s DNA causing 2 of his chromosomes to gel together creating a cancer. It is a chronic cancer meaning it will never be cured however there is a currently a lot of research into it. 20 years previous, this diagnosis would've meant a terminal outcome. While the research has come a long way treatment is focused on adults due to it’s rarity in children. There are currently 7 treatments although 3 are only suitable for children.

Joe and his family spent weeks in hospital going through various scans, tests and operations. This was an incredibly tough time and Joe was incredibly brave. When he was finally discharged, Joe suffered hugely from the side effects of his medication and after around 6 weeks of this was given the sad news that his medication was not working.

Joe then went back into hospital and had further tests and was fortunately placed on a clinical trial for a new medication. We have recently found out that the medication is working well and helping to reduce the cancerous cells in his blood. Joe is enjoying feeling more himself again and experiencing fewer side effects.

While the long-term impacts of this medication are still unknown we want to help Joe to live life to the fullest. Although we are uncertain on his life span at the moment, it is Joe’s dream to go to Disney World Florida and this is where we are asking for your help. It would be great to give Joe something to look forward to while he endures his treatment and various tests.

If you would like to read more about Joe's condition CML, please click the below link:

CML Foundation

Any money left over will be donated to help fight cancer in children.