Ethan and Family's Recovery

The Backstory-

On the 8th of June, Ethan was taken to hospital due to a rash spreading on his legs. The hospital carried out blood tests to see if they could see anything abnormal. From the blood tests they could see that Ethan's platelets were very low. This is a strong sign of leukaemia but it also could've been a viral infection.

He was then admitted to Birmingham children's hospital the next day. Once he arrived, they instantly carried out more test to find out if it was leukaemia. They did a bone marrow biopsy as well as a lumbar puncture, they also added a line straight to one of his main arteries to start chemotherapy if needed.

Ethan's Parents, Carl and Laura, then attended a meeting. It was confirmed he had Stage 4 Burkitt leukaemia (BL) in his bones. They then told them the plan and what steps they will take to keep Ethan happy and healthy.

Chemotherapy will start shortly and unfortunately it will knock him about and his kidneys will overwork to excrete the powerful chemotherapy drugs as they move through his body.

This is the first step but with all cancer victims his journey has just begun. This will be a marathon and not a sprint.

How you can help-

This will help support Ethan's Mom and Dad while they are supporting Ethan through his journey.

Since the diagnosis, the whole family has been devastated. Ethan is now unable to go to nursery, play with his friends and do what most 4 year olds can do. He will be spending a lot of time in hospital while receiving his treatment which will be six months at a minimum and another 6-7 months to recover. After the main 6 months of treatment he will have 2 1/2 years more treatment but will be less intense.

The emotional impact on his parents has been enormous and from a logistical perspective has meant that they have been unable to return to work whilst caring full-time for Ethan.

Ethan's Father, Carl, has had to take 6 months unpaid leave while his Mother, Laura, has also had to give up her job.

Due to COVID, Ethan's siblings are not able to see him and only one parent at a time can go see him, but with raising funds to help the family along with the journey it can take a little bit of worry and stress out of the financial side of things. The funds that will be raised will also go towards covering the costs of the extortionate car parking everyday.