Devastating moment mum was told her baby son had leukaemia after five-day illness
Little Louis Rumble had been feeling 'under the weather' for a few days when he developed 30 tiny bruises on his body
A MUM has revealed the devastating moment her 19-month-old son was diagnosed with leukaemia after a five-day illness.
Little Louis Rumble had been feeling "under the weather" for a few days when he developed 30 tiny bruises on his body.
Mum Claire said: "He was pale and lethargic, he didn't eat much and was up in the night crying a lot for five nights.
"I put it down to teething until the bruising appeared."
Claire took Louis to his GP the following day and was horrified to learn her little boy had leukaemia by 9pm that night.
She said: "Instantly your heart just sinks, it's just devastating.
"I remember the first thing I said to the nurse was 'is he going to die?'
"I just thought it's leukaemia, it's a cancer, I didn't know much about it."
After a bone marrow aspirate doctors diagnosed the tot with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
The brave youngster went through 20 months of vigorous treatment after his diagnosis in 2009.
Claire said: "Louis would obviously cry a lot and he would scream a lot.
"When they tried to take bloods he would struggle and kick and scream and would have sisters who had worked on the ward for 20 years shaking like leaves by the end because he would be such a challenge to hold still. He was dreadful."
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But Claire insists "that fight in him was what got him through" and Louis is now thankfully in remission.
Louis has less than a year of remission to get through is enjoying life as a happy, healthy eight-year-old.
Claire, dad Jim and Louis' twin sister Grace were all supported by Children with Cancer throughout Louis' battle.The mum-of-two said: "If Louis had been born 15 years ago, his chances would not have been so great, but because people raise money for charity, research has advanced."
Louis' family now regularly fundraise for Children with Cancer, one of the charities The Sun is raising money for with our Smiles at Christmas campaign.
Claire said: "People that don't have a child with cancer or something like that have no idea really what it's like and how you have to adapt your life, how you have to adjust every day things you take for granted."
She added: "I've seen myself over the past few years how difficult it is to get people to give money towards research because it's not something tangible you can see happening, it's a slow burner and takes a very long time.
"But if those people were to see these children on treatment and see what they have to go through and see what difference that research makes in sometimes such a short space of time - even a few years, five years, ten years - it's a massive leap and can really make a huge difference to all forms of cancer."
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