Friends raise funds for five-year-old boy with rare cancer

Summarised from BBC Kent's report · Updated 4 Nov, 06:17 · Archive

Friends have raised over £4,700 for a five-year-old from Ramsgate being treated for high-risk metastatic neuroblastoma.

Emilio, five, from Ramsgate, was diagnosed with high-risk metastatic neuroblastoma after developing a limp, tiredness and a fever. His mother Mary said his initial symptoms were mistaken for a hip condition or virus, but when his condition worsened, he was admitted to hospital in Kent where scans revealed a mass. She said: 'Our entire world has changed in just a few weeks.'

Friends have launched a fundraising campaign that has raised more than £4,700 towards a £7,000 target to help the family during treatment. Emilio is now being treated at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, where he is expected to undergo about 80 days of chemotherapy with further treatment anticipated. Mary praised Emilio's resilience, noting that after starting steroids and emergency chemotherapy, he told her: 'Mummy, I want to go to school. I want to play.'

Mary is calling for greater awareness of childhood cancer symptoms among families and medical professionals, saying: 'You are your child's voice.' Experts have promoted a rule-of-three for professionals: if a child has three persistent symptoms, has visited a doctor three times, or has had three weeks of unexplained symptoms, a referral should be considered.

Read the report

• Friends rally around five-year-old boy with cancerEmilio is being treated for high-risk metastatic neuroblastoma at London's Royal Marsden Hospital.BBC Kent · 4 Nov, 06:00

In this story: Emilio · Mary · Jay · Ramsgate · Royal Marsden Hospital · London

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