Boy, 3, 'wasn't himself' on holiday then family got devastating diagnosis

A family have told how a three-year-old boy "wasn't himself" on holiday and after taking him to hospital they were told he had leukaemia.

Charlie Daly from Washington, Sunderland, was on holiday in Morecambe with his family when they noticed he was withdrawn and then bruises began to appear on his skin. A week earlier, he had been unwell with a temperature and taken to see a doctor, but at this stage it was just thought that he had an infection, possibly exacerbated by a heart murmur that runs in the family.

He was sent home and the family - with Charlie and his five siblings - went off on holiday and it was while in Morecambe they decided to take him to a hospitalwhere doctors suspected he may have leukaemia.

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The family rushed home and Charlie was taken to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, where he is now undergoing treatment which is likely to last up to three years - and this has logistically had a huge impact on his family. Both his parents - Dawn and Darren - are self-employed and with finances stretched, Charlie's aunt Kerry has set up a crowdfunding page to support the family

Kerry told ChronicleLive : "Just a week before, he had been really poorly. He'd had a temperature and my sister Dawn had taken him to the doctors. My sister had asked if it was okay for them to go on holiday - and they did.

"Charlie has five siblings and the little ones were all dancing as they normally do - and he's usually the first one on the dancefloor, but he wasn't himself."

She said that they took Charlie to hospital where they were given the worrying news that leukaemia was a possibility. "They had to send an ambulance from the RVI to get him home. And when he got back to the RVI they did more blood tests there to confirm it was what they had thought," said Kerry.

"It's been incredibly frightening for them all. Before this there had been absolutely no indication that it could be cancer. It's been a bolt from the blue. His mum always says how he loves to make people laugh."

Writing on the crowdfunding page, she added: "At only three years old this is devastating news for us all as a family, but no one more than his mam, dad and siblings Sophie, Oliver, Lexi, Josh and Melissa."

She went on to say: "We are really hopeful that Charlie will make a full recovery but we have been told he will need 2-3 years of gruelling treatment that could make him very poorly. Charlie's mam (my sister Dawn) and his dad Darren both work self employed and are unable to work whilst Charlie is poorly."

Click here to see Charlie's fundraiser page.