Niall's story

Nine-year-old Niall is hockey mad. Player of the year for his local team, Wisbech Town, he is also a rising star for Lincolnshire County. He started playing just before he was diagnosed with cancer at the age of six.

Niall's parents were given the news on Christmas Eve 2018. “All of a sudden it was like, oh my goodness, this is us now,” remembers mum Claire.

“We didn’t tell Niall or his brothers. We didn’t tell anyone. We went home, put the letters out for Santa and did normal Christmas stuff. I remember my sister-in-law trying to talk to me on Boxing Day and I was just staring into space. I couldn’t hold a conversation.”

It had taken four months for Niall to be diagnosed. In August, he developed symptoms of tonsillitis, but antibiotics wouldn’t shift it. He became increasingly tired and had difficulty breathing. One of his tonsils was huge. It was an out-of-hours doctor who eventually referred him to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge for a second opinion. After surgery to remove his tonsils, Niall’s parents – Claire and Aaron – were told their son had Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes.

Driving back to hospital to start treatment, Claire and Aaron began to drip feed information to Niall, not knowing how much was too much.

“One of the most emotional things was telling him he was going to lose his hair. He loved his hair.”

Overall Niall had four rounds of chemotherapy – one week on, three weeks off – starting on New Year’s Eve.

“It was very intense, but he coped really well,” remembers Claire. “He didn’t mind being in hospital too much. We had time together. There were playworkers and nurses, who used to bring him stuff. The worst memories are of the blood tests.”

Acorn House, where families can stay while their children are in hospital, was a lifeline. It saved money on hotels and provided somewhere to cook a meal, rather than spend money in the hospital concourse.

On the ward, however, there was little privacy and space.

“There was a bed and a fold down bed. The children all crammed in together, but there were people right next to you and you’d have to be courteous. It was hard at night when people had their families there.”