A mum has moved to warn other parents and their children after her son's pains and rash turned out to be a serious illness. Jessica had run a bath for her son Harvey, 16, in a desperate attempt to ease his back and leg pains.
It came after days of her giving him painkillers that had been prescribed to help him cope with "agonising" pains. But nothing was working.
Harvey, who is autistic, lives with Jessica, dad Stuart and his four siblings. The first sign that something was wrong was when he started complaining of pain in his back and legs.
He was given paracetamol and ibuprofen. But the pain got worse and he couldn't walk properly.
Jessica knew something was wrong because Harvey, who she said had a high pain threshold - not even crying when he broke his arm when he was younger - was in "agony". They took him to A&E on February 9.
There, Jessica said, a doctor "felt his back" and said Harvey's muscles were "tight". Harvey was given diazepam and they were sent home.
But, Jessica said, the pain had become "unbearable". Harvey was not getting any better and was crying in his bedroom at night.
That's when Jessica, who is a nurse, ran a warm bath to try to soothe his pain. It was then that she spotted the rash on his feet, which had also spread to his arms.
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Speaking to the M.E.N, Jessica said: "As he came out of the bath he noticed a rash coming on his arm and said he had it on his feet. All I could describe it as was speckly, like burst blood vessels where the blood comes to the surface of the skin.
"We had taken him to A&E because it had escalated to the point where he couldn't walk. He was in absolute agony."
Days later, on February 14, after struggling to get hold of a GP, Jessica and Stuart immediately called 111. Paramedics arrived at the house and took Harvey back to A&E at Oldham Hospital. He was given morphine to help cope with the extreme pains he was suffering and had turned very pale.
It was at this crucial point that a consultant made the decision to take some blood tests from Harvey. His family could never have predicted the devastating news they were about to receive.
"They came back in straight away and told us it was Leukaemia," Jessica said. "It was horrendous. His dad was with him and I was at home. When they phoned me to tell me I remember just screaming. I broke down.
"We couldn't believe it. I couldn't wrap my head around it or process what was going on at first. Then I got my nurses head on and asked straight away what the next steps were."
Harvey was transferred to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital that same day. Further tests revealed that the teenager had Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), a type of blood cancer that starts from white blood cells called lymphocytes in the bone marrow. It typically develops quickly over days or weeks and is the most common type of leukaemia to affect children.
"In my head, I just knew we were going to get the worst news from those results, which we did. Within the day they were telling us the treatment plan for Harvey," Jessica said.
From February 15, a four-week long treatment of gruelling and intensive chemotherapy commenced as part of the induction stage, with Harvey now taking three lots of medication each week.
"They are going to essentially blast him with the chemotherapy. It's absolutely horrendous," Jessica added. "He has become nauseous, lethargic, and is hardly eating anything. It totally weakens his whole immune system."
"Harvey's autism shines through, but he's very high-functioning. Everybody that meets him just calls him amazing. He is usually so bubbly. Even when he came into the hospital he was apologising for being poorly and thanking everyone. He is an amazing son."
Doctors will review how Harvey is responding to the treatment and he will remain bedbound in hospital for weeks. The experience has prompted Jessica to warn other parents about the symptoms.
"Harvey could be stuck there for months, it all just depends on how his body reacts, although because of his age, they do generally have positive outcomes," Jessica added.
"I've got four other children, so we are juggling that at the moment too, whilst also wanting to be here with Harvey constantly.
"It's an absolute whirlwind, an emotional rollercoaster, but from going through this we know how important it is to not just accept the first answer you're given if you feel something is wrong.
"Especially because children and teenagers have falls or bumps all the time, but it could still be something sinister. My fear is other teenagers could present with these pains and not know they are at risk. They just need a simple blood tests to get the answers and rule it out."
Family friends have since launched a fundraising page to help raise money for the family, with nurse Jessica now taking time off to care for Harvey. Click here to donate.
The Northern Care Alliance, which manages Oldham Hospital, has been approached for comment.
