Three-year-old Fox Parkin was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia just after Christmas Day and has to receive lifesaving treatment.
The procedure meant Fox, from Plymouth, had to be separated from his twin Winter.
Before little Fox was wheeled away to face months of gruelling treatment – which includes having intravenous arsenic, a naturally occurring element which can be medically effective – he said goodbye to his beloved sister.
And the heartbreaking moment the youngsters said goodbye was captured in a photo by parents Holly and Tom.
Until now, Fox and Winter, who turned three on 3 January, were happy, healthy twins, who always bounced back quickly from childhood bugs, according to mum Holly.
But in October 2019, Fox developed tonsillitis – an inflammation of the tonsils, which can feel like a bad cold.
By Christmas day, Fox appeared to be better but when Holly noticed a rash on his leg, she thought it was meningitis.
Phoning 111, she arranged to go to Derriford Hospital, where doctors did not think he had meningitis but agreed that he was very unwell.
Before they could start Christmas dinner, the family were told to come back to hospital.
‘With how quickly they’d called, I knew it wasn’t going to be good,’ explained Holly.
Medics explained that Fox had an abnormally low blood cell count and would require a transfusion.
The parents stayed overnight at the hospital while they waited for the results of the blood test. The next day, a consultant spoke to the parents.
Holly explained: ‘I knew then it wasn’t good news when we were led into this side room with tissues and sofas, my heart sank.
‘Up until that moment we held on to the hope that doctors could be wrong, that Fox may not have what they said he did.
‘But the results showed that he had a form of leukaemia called APL. It’s very rare. The hospital told us they hadn’t seen a case themselves in years.’
After a night on the high dependency unit, he was transferred to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children for a bone marrow biopsy, to determine exactly what form of the disease he had.
According to cancer charity Bloodwise, APL can affect any age group but is less common in children under 10, and treatment, which begins immediately, is usually based on a combination of chemotherapy and other drugs.
Currently, Fox is in what is known as the induction phase of treatment, which aims to destroy as many cancerous cells as possible.
This will last for seven more weeks, after which he will move on to the consolidation phase when treatment is made stronger to stop the disease coming back.
After being struck down by a number of infections, the little boy’s immune system is virtually non-existent, meaning his parents must be very careful about who they allow to visit him in hospital – which, heartbreakingly, means he has been parted from Winter for the first time in his life.
Holly added: ‘She came up for their birthday on 3 January, but we want to keep things as normal as possible for her.
‘She knows her brother is in the big hospital to make him better, but I’m not sure she understands exactly what that means.
‘They’d never spent a night apart before this, so it’s been really hard.’
Because Holly and Tom are both self-employed, taking time off work to care for Fox has been difficult so they set up a GoFundMe page and were blown away when donations began to flood in.
Holly has now thanked the kind friends and strangers who have donated, as well as the charities Bloodwise and CLIC Sargent for providing support with accommodation and taxis to and from the hospital.
‘People have been so incredibly kind,’ added Holly. ‘We’ve been told that the first eight weeks are crucial, so we really need to be with Fox.
‘But having so much support around us is such a comfort.’
For more information on CLIC Sargent, visit their website to learn more about their work.
Do you have a story about your children you want to share? Let us know by emailing metrolifestyleteam@metro.co.uk.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/19/twins-kiss-goodbye-before-being-separated-for-the-first-time-as-one-has-leukaemia-12082713/
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