A devastated family was told their son had cancer following a worried call from his headteacher.
Connor Ellerton, from Birkdale, suffered with a number of ear infections, with GPs prescribing antibiotics to the teen. But in 2019, when the 14-year-old was training with his school rugby team, the school's headteacher rang mum Joanne to say something wasn't right.
Joanne, along with dad Ian, picked up their son from the training session and decided to take him to Ormskirk Children's A&E where they explained that Connor had suffered a number of ear infections in the last six months. The doctor checked him over and said that she thought he had a perforated eardrum but wanted to do a blood test to be sure.
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When the results returned, the doctor told the family that she still wasn't happy so sent for another test. The family decided to get a sandwich while they waited but, when they returned, their world came crashing down.
Joanne told the ECHO: "Connor had an ear infection and the doctor gave him some antibiotics but it kept happening. The doctor kept giving him antibiotics but then over the summer holidays he was training with his school rugby team and the headteacher rang asking us to come and pick him up.
"We decided we needed to take him to A&E because something wasn't right. The doctor at the hospital said she thought he had a perforated ear drum. She took bloods but she wasn't happy with the results.
"He didn't look right, he was like a yellowy-grey colour. She then took another set of bloods so we went for a sandwich and came back to be told he had leukaemia."
The 50-year-old shop assistant was distraught and put her life on hold having just graduated from Edge Hill. But after securing nine As and Bs in his GCSEs, while undergoing three years of gruelling chemotherapy, the Merchant Taylors' student managed to beat cancer. Connor, now 17, has also returned to the rugby pitch following his cancer battle.
Just one week after finishing his treatment, Connor returned to his beloved sport after James Cook, the Southport RFC's under-18s coach asked him to play the last ten minutes. Little did the teen know that James had arranged for the game to be halted and a guard of honour was given to the cancer survivor.
Holding back the tears, Joanne said: "James arranged a tunnel to clap him onto the pitch. It was amazing. None of us knew it was going to happen."
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