Myles was a healthy, fun loving 6 year old boy with a contagious smile and an enthusiasm for life. Early in 2014 however things changed and he began to fall ill. Suspecting the usual school viruses we initially were not suspicious. However we soon noticed that the severity and length of each illness was worsening and added to this he began to experience weakness and pain in his legs. We subsequently pushed for tests and after visits to the GP and blood tests at our local hospital we were transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital and taken onto the children's oncology ward for further investigation. 

On 30th April 2014, after bone marrow testing, we were told the devastating news that our little boy had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia, a cancer of the blood, at just 6 years old.

Our world was very quickly turned upside down as Myles began a gruelling treatment regime. He endured around 150 nights in Birmingham Children's Hospital, surgery to insert and remove a central venous line into a valve near his heart, over 30 blood and platelet transfusions, x-rays, MRI and CT scans, lumber punctures, injections, cannulas and bone marrow aspirates. He lost all of his beautiful hair not once but twice. He received chemotherapy orally, via infusion and injection. He lost the ability to walk, leaving him wheelchair bound before eventually regaining the strength to walk again.

Myles reached remission, however his journey was far from over. He then faced the maintenance stage of treatment for a further three years. This consisted of an oral chemotherapy every single evening, with an additional one once per week, a monthly chemotherapy given via cannula at Oncology Outpatients, five days per month of steroids which caused awful mood swings and hunger and a specific antibiotic taken every weekend to protect against things such as toxoplasmosis and pneumonia. He had blood taken every fortnight to look for any signs of cancer relapse. During this period Myles had little to no immune system, meaning any infection he contracted was potentially life threatening.

Despite all the adversities, Myles was managing his maintenance treatment very well and it soon became a way of life. In April 2017 however things changed when Myles’ bone marrow stopped producing haemoglobin. Tests were carried out and blood transfusions were given. However by the following month, all of Myles’ blood counts dropped drastically. We were admitted to hospital and told to expect that our son’s cancer had very likely returned. 

Myles was given a bone marrow biopsy, which thankfully revealed that he was in fact cancer free! Tests eventually showed that he had contracted Parvovirus B19/Fifth Disease which had caused his bone marrow to fail. Initially there was no treatment, we simply had to ‘wait it out’ while receiving weekly blood transfusions.

In this time, Myles somehow managed to undertake a 5 mile walk to raise money for Bloodwise. He was re-admitted to hospital the very next day.

By August things had not improved and he was requiring two blood transfusions per week. The decision was made to intervene with an infusion of anti-bodies. Myles initially reacted well but the side effects of treatment hit within 24 hours and Myles was very ill. The anti-bodies were soon confirmed to be successful and Myles’ bone marrow was once again functioning.

In October 2017 Myles finally finished a gruelling three and a half years of treatment! He rang the end of treatment bell at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and celebrated with a paintballing party with all of his friends.

We believe that from something bad must come something good. This is why we want to raise much needed funds for Bloodwise, to enable them to carry out their life saving work for children just like Myles.

28th March 2015 - Mark and friends climbed Snowdonia.

5th September 2015 - Mark and his friends embarked upon a climb of Scaffel Pike, the highest mountain in England, at an elevation of 978 metres.