A young boy from Ballymena has been diagnosed with leukemia after limping for a few weeks.
Jack McClenaghan, three, had a previous history of irritable hip which had been managed at home with pain relief, so when he started limping six weeks ago, his family weren't overly concerned as it wasn't holding him back from playing or impacting his home life.
However, the family began to worry once the youngster started to get very pale and brought him to the GP.
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A week later, Jack could barely walk on either leg, so his parents brought him to Antrim Area Hospital A&E where he had an X-Ray and blood test, which returned abnormal results.
Within a number of hours, doctors were able to tell his parents, Andrew and Carley, he had leukemia. Two days later, a diagnosis of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia was confirmed by a biopsy.
Family friend Adam Coulter has set up a fundraising page to help support the McClenaghan family through this difficult period.
"Hearing the news that Jack was diagnosed with Leukemia broke my heart and I couldn't even begin to imagine what Andrew and Carley were going through," Adam told Belfast Live.
"Being a new dad myself you realise nothing else in the world matters other than their health and safety and this has to be any parent's worst nightmare. Andrew and Carley have three young children in total, Jack aged three, Jude who is two, and Ellie-Mae who has just turned 1, and for them going through this as family will be extremely hard.
"Myself and Andrew's other friends wanted to try help out as best we could to try relieve some pressure off the family financially so they can concentrate on Jack getting better and of course the rest of their beautiful family.
"On the morning of July 13, Jack had a biopsy that came back confirming he had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. His parents were told that the next morning he would have a central line put into his chest and his chemotherapy would begin right away and last around three years."
Adam said the family's friends and the wider community felt at a loss for what to do to help the family after the devastating news. Originally planning to club together what they could as friends, he decided to spread the fundraiser further to more people who will know and want to help the family.
He said: "We as their friends felt like we wanted and needed to do something to help the family. Of course as much as we wish we could help with Jack's health, we can't - that's where the medical professionals come in.
"I just wish I could do more, but this is only the beginning and all their friends and family are here every step of the way with them.
"We originally kept the fundraiser a secret from the family, as I personally know what Andrew is like. I thought he may have been stubborn and told me to take it down, as he's the type of guy to go out of his way to do a lot of kind acts for others and never expect anything in return.
"But when we reached the halfway mark through close friends and family in under a day, I let Andrew know what we were doing, and he and Carley couldn't have been more thankful."
You can donate to the fundraiser to help the family by clicking here.
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