Lucas’ leukaemia battle – James’s 25mile bike ride sponsorship

I am James Hudson-Jones, 8 years old and on October the 4th I will be cycling on the roads of Norfolk in my first ever cycling sportive event, cycling a distance of 25 miles with my Mum.

My Mum has a friend from when she was at school who's little boy Lucas was diagnosed with leukemia on Sunday 16th August 2015, this diagnosis came as a complete shock to all his family.

From Lucas’s Auntie who is fundraising for the family:

On 6th August he celebrated his first birthday and apart from having a cold he appeared a happy and healthy baby celebrating this milestone occasion.

The following week he remained unwell and was admitted to A&E, when some purple coloured spots appeared on his body. Blood tests were run which confirmed both his white blood cell and red blood cell count were extremely low and at this point the dreaded word leukaemia was mentioned along with some other possibilities.Trying to remain optimistic but fearing the worst the 24hrs while waiting for a confirmed diagnosis were long and anxious. When it came back he has leukaemia nothing prepares you for hearing those words. It feels so cruel and unfair that any child should have this diagnosis and have to face the prospect of a fight for survival at such a young age.

He was swiftly transferred to Addenbrookes and further tests were run to determine the type of leukaemia. This is where news went from bad to worse as it was confirmed after many anxious days he has Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML). This is harder to treat than the more common form Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) and requires a lengthy hospital stay with multiple chemotherapy sessions. At present around 70 children a year are diagnosed with AML and it has a survival rate of just over 60%.

So far Lucas has already completed his first 10 days of chemo, all in all he will be in hospital for a total of 5 months, not allowed out and having to stay in a tiny room for much of his treatment. For his mum and dad this also means a 5 month stay in hospital with him, it would be unimaginable to do anything other than stay strong as a family unit together during this time as the only way to get through this situation. However as you can imagine this takes its financial toll, and this is why I’ve set up this funding page so that I can with the power of friends and family help to provide financial support to see them through this difficult time.

If you would like, and are able to make a financial donation however small so that while Lucas is in hospital his Mummy and Daddy can be by his side without the financial worry then that would make me very proud to do a little bit to help by doing this cycle ride. I have a little brother and little sister too and would love to think that people would help my family if they ever needed it.

Lots of love

James