The parents of a two-year-old Dumfries boy saw their world “turned upside down” after the tot was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukaemia.
Little John Ferguson was rushed to accident and emergency at Dumfries Infirmary on October 23 after he stopped being able to walk.
He was taken by ambulance to Glasgow Royal Children’s Hospital the following day where two weeks of constant tests finally confirmed last Thursday that the two-year-old has acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).
The rare form of cancer isn’t normally found in children and is extremely aggressive.
Parents Abigail and John have been told the disease is running through their son’s skeletal system.
Wee John is now in isolation and has started an intense 10-day course of chemotherapy.
Due to the pain he is in, devastated Abigail is unable to hug her boy and can only sit by his side.
She said: “John hadn’t been his usual self for a few days and was a bit whingey.
“Because he’s not talking yet, he wasn’t able to tell us what was wrong.
“We were at home on October 23 when my husband thought wee John couldn’t walk.
“We rushed him to hospital and he was kept in overnight for tests.
“Tests were done and we were told it was either an infection or leukaemia.
“I just broke down and my husband was distraught.”
Little John was taken to hospital in Glasgow by ambulance where he has remained.
On Thursday, it was finally confirmed John has AML.
Abigail said: “Our world has been turned upside down.
“While my husband and I are in Glasgow, my mum’s been at home looking after our three girls Fallon, Maddie and Sorcha.
“John will eventually need a bone marrow transplant and the girls will all be tested to see if they are a match.
“I don’t think it’s hit me yet what is happening, but John is a fighter and we are all hoping for the best.
“Everybody who meets him says his smile is infectious and he’s known as the wee smiler.
“It’s frightening how fast he’s deteriorating and it’s heartbreaking seeing him in pain.
“I can’t even hug him because his bones are so sore.”
Family friends Karen Kennedy and Tracy Cessford have launched fundraising pages in a bid to help the family cope with the cost of John’s hospital stay.
Karen said: “We are trying to raise some funds to help them get through this terrible time and provide everything the children need. Unfortunately the bills don’t stop due to illness.
“We want to try to help towards travel costs to hospital, and provide John and his mummy with anything they require to make this horrible time a little more bearable in hospital.
“Even the smallest donation is appreciated greatly.”
Grateful Abigail said: “We’ve never been in a situation where we’ve
needed help before so for
our friends to do something like this has really touched us.”
●To make a donation, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/wm8xuu-johns-journey or https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tracy-cessford-3
