<div>**UPDATE from Charlie’s parents**
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<div>Firstly, thank you. To every single person who has donated, shared our page, sent a message, left a comment, prayed for Charlie, or simply thought of him during this journey – thank you. 
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<div>Your kindness has carried us through some incredibly difficult days and we will never be able to fully express how grateful we are.
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<div>Since our last update, Charlie has endured more than any little boy should ever have to. He has continued chemotherapy, undergone surgery, spent countless days and nights in hospital, and completed 21 out of 28 sessions of proton beam radiotherapy in Manchester. Along the way there have been setbacks too, including line complications, infections, sepsis, line replacement surgery, unexpected hospital admissions and more tears than we care to count.
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<div>There have been moments where treatment has felt relentless. Just when we think we’ve overcome one hurdle, another seems to appear. But through it all, Charlie continues to amaze us.
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<div>Despite everything, he still finds reasons to smile. He still makes us laugh every day with his little Charlieisms. He still says “thank you” for everything, strokes our face when he tells us he loves us, and somehow manages to spread joy even on the hardest days.
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<div>The reality is that life looks very different for our family now. We don’t really think in weeks or months anymore. We think in scans, blood counts, treatment cycles and appointments. The future that we thought we had has changed completely, and we’re learning to navigate a world we never imagined becoming part of.
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<div>The support from this fundraiser has helped ease some of the financial pressure that comes with spending extended periods away from home for treatment, travelling between hospitals, accommodation costs, parking, food, childcare arrangements and all the countless unexpected expenses that accompany childhood cancer. It has allowed us to focus on what matters most: Charlie.
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<div>We still have treatment ahead of us and we still don’t know exactly what the coming days or months will bring. Childhood cancer is a marathon, not a sprint, and there remains uncertainty at every stage. But what we do know is that Charlie continues to fight with everything he has.
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<div>We are so incredibly proud of him.
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<div>Thank you for continuing to stand beside our family. Your support means more than you’ll ever know.
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<div>**This is Charlie, my kind, funny, gorgeous 2-year-old nephew. 
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<div>On 7th December 2025, his parents found a lump under his arm and rushed him to Hull Royal Infirmary Children’s A&amp;E. From there they were blue lighted to Leeds General Infirmary and after many tests, scans, bloods tests and an agonising wait, 10 days later, on 17th December, they received the devastating diagnosis of stage IV, very high risk, metastatic embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma.
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<div>Rhabdomyosarcoma is a rare and very aggressive soft tissue cancer affecting an average of just 31 people (usually children) in England, each year. Rhabdomyosarcoma has an alarmingly high rate of relapse, and the treatment upon relapse is extremely limited.
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<div>Upon admission to LGI, under the care of the brilliant paediatric oncology team, Charlie was put under general anaesthetic to obtain a biopsy and to put a double Hickman line in his chest.
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<div>It was quickly established that Charlie’s primary tumour was very large and took up most of the left side of his chest. It had also metastasised to the surrounding lymph nodes under his armpit and in his neck. Not only that but, due to its aggressive nature, it very quickly escalated and caused a hole in his left lung, and subsequently, his lung collapsed, which caused his oxygen to drop and respiratory issues. Intervention was required and his medical team made the decision to start treatment before a diagnosis was even made in order to save his life.
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<div>Charlie has completed his first cycle of chemo but has a gruelling 2 further years of treatment ahead of him. The treatment is aggressive and prolonged and brings with it a whole new list of symptoms that no toddler should ever have to endure. Surgery is currently not an option for Charlie. It is all the more heartbreaking that Charlie doesn’t understand what is happening to him, and we can’t explain to him why we are putting him through painful procedures, making him stay away from his home and his big brother, or why strangers are prodding and poking him all the time.
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<div>In between treatments, Charlie is very unwell due to the side effects of the chemo and is unable to live a normal life due to the fact his immune system is almost completely suppressed. He is susceptible to infections and therefore will need to be isolated for the most part of his treatment. He can no longer attend his childminders, play with other children his own age, or live a normal life. He requires full time care, which his parents, who previously worked full-time, are working their own lives around to be able to give him.
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<div>Charlie’s dad, my brother, is a self-employed joiner and has been unable to work since 7th December as he hasn’t been able to, or wanted to, leave Charlie’s side.
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<div>No family is ever prepared for this, emotionally or financially, and the strain a diagnosis like this brings is enormous.
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<div>I’m setting up this page to try to help reduce the financial burden they are currently facing, whilst they fight the unimaginable, and to allow them to put all their energy into Charlie so that he has the best chance of beating this.
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<div>I’m asking you for help, because my brother and his wife never would. 
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<div>Every donation, no matter how small, will go directly towards:
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<div>Allowing Lee to take time off work to be with Charlie without financial fear;
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<div>Travel costs to and from Leeds;
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<div>Daily living expenses whilst away from home;
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<div>Maintaining a small semblance of normality for Charlie’s 7-year-old brother, Oliver; 
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<div>Making memories with Charlie on the days where he is well enough to leave the hospital/house.
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<div>If you’re unable to donate, please consider sharing this page. Your kindness, prayers, and support mean more than words can express.
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<div>Thank you for helping our family during the hardest fight of their lives ❤️ 
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Support The Shilleto family through the unimaginable.

Support The Shilleto family through the unimaginable.

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