A mum who thought her son did not want to start secondary school found out he was in fact suffering from cancer. Emma Barnsley, 41, from Long Eaton, first thought her son Hayden Barnsley, 11, was reluctant to head to The Long Eaton secondary school for his first day on Monday, September 5.
But after Hayden told his mother he felt ill, she looked looked at his chest and believed he had pneumonia. After being taken to the doctors, Hayden was examined in A&E, where they devastatingly diagnosed him with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
To make matters worse, Hayden's condition worsened to the point where on the evening of Wednesday, September 7, the schoolboy fell into a coma which he woke from on Saturday, September 10. Ms Barnsley, said: "I thought he just did not want to go to school, and was acting up so he didn't have to go. But then after noticing he was poorly I checked his chest and I thought he had pneumonia and I was worried.
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"But then I got the awful news when we took him to the hospital. I told him the truth of what was going on and the first thing he said was 'am I going to die?', and I told him he wouldn't but that was really upsetting.
"I could just not believe it, he seemed perfectly fine before it. The only thing I can think of was that he had a stitch a bit before, but I thought it was just growing pains.
"He will need three or four years of treatment, with him going through chemotherapy. That will mean he's having treatment for a lot of his remaining time at school, and I've had to quit my job to become a carer for him."
Ms Barnsley previously worked as a caterer at a school before having to leave due to Hayden's illness. Her family and friends have now set up a fundraising page, as well as an events day to raise money for Hayden and two other children in Long Eaton who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Beverley Duckmanton, 49, who lives in Long Eaton, said: "We've organised a day of events 11am-4pm at the Corner Room in Long Eaton on October 8 with face painting, craft and cake stalls and mascots coming. He was supposed to start school with my son because he had been to school with him. We've all been in tears, we thought we were going to loss him when he took a turn for the worse.
"He was going into Year 7, so it's a lot to deal with. The whole point of this is to achieve something positive for the families and help fund the recovery with what they need. Hayden was off for a few weeks before but we just thought he didn't want to go. The last thing you'd expect as a mum is that your child is really poorly."
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