Friends undertake month of 5k runs to help family of 11-year-old Heysham boy battling leukaemia

Three friends are taking on a daily run throughout this month - including on Christmas Day - to help the family of an 11-year-old boy with leukaemia.
Jacob Walker in hospital during his treatment.Jacob Walker in hospital during his treatment.
Jacob Walker in hospital during his treatment.

Jacob Walker was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in August after a whirlwind 24 hours of doctors' appointments and blood tests.

His mum Anja has now taken a sabbatical from work to look after him, and friends are rallying round to give support.

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Pauline Turner, her friend Joe Beckett and work colleague Sharon Doyle are running 5km every day this month in a bid to raise at least £1,000 to help the family through a difficult time.

Jacob Walker in hospital at the start of his treatment.Jacob Walker in hospital at the start of his treatment.
Jacob Walker in hospital at the start of his treatment.

"This year has been rubbish for everyone, but for this particular family they have had this to cope with as well and it's just not fair," said Pauline, who has known Anja since they were teenagers.

In November Joe, who also works with Anja, raised money for ALL research by doing 100 press-ups a day.

"We went for a run one day and Joe did his press-ups afterwards and I just thought we could run every day and raise money for Jacob and his family," Pauline said.

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"Anja can't work at the moment and we all have mortgages to pay and you just can't predict something this awful happening.

Jacob Walker with dad Daniel, mum Anja and sisters Lily and Isla.Jacob Walker with dad Daniel, mum Anja and sisters Lily and Isla.
Jacob Walker with dad Daniel, mum Anja and sisters Lily and Isla.

"It's coming up to Christmas and they are going through a tricky time.

"They can choose how they want to spend the money - for Christmas, to pay bills, whatever they want."

Anja said the family is "blown away" by the support they have received.

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"It was a really nice surprise," she said. "We cannot believe the generosity of people, we are all blown away.

Pauline Turner (left) with fellow fundraisers Joe Beckett and Sharon Doyle.Pauline Turner (left) with fellow fundraisers Joe Beckett and Sharon Doyle.
Pauline Turner (left) with fellow fundraisers Joe Beckett and Sharon Doyle.

"It's a lovely thing for them to do, and we will be forever grateful."

Jacob was diagnosed in August after Anja and her husband Daniel noticed some changes in their son.

"He plays football for Morecambe Hawks and when he went back to training for the first time after the lockdown he was struggling," Anja, 33, said.

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"He was out of breath where he is normally one of the fastest, and his coach even sent us a message asking if everything was OK.

Jacob Walker with his new nephew Louie.Jacob Walker with his new nephew Louie.
Jacob Walker with his new nephew Louie.

"We just thought it was taking him a few weeks to get back to normal, but then we noticed he was looking a bit pale and he wasn't eating as much, and one day he was putting his seatbelt on in the car and I noticed a lump on his neck.

"I made a doctor's appointment for the next morning, and they wanted to do blood tests the next day. Later that day the phone rang and it was a paediatric doctor from the Royal Lancaster Infirmary saying there was something abnormal and could he have the blood tests redone.

"He wanted us to go in straight away which made me panic. He actually asked how quickly we could get there.

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"When we got there they were feeling all these lumps in his neck, they got to five and I was really panicking then.

"Then they took me and Daniel into another room and told us it was leukaemia."

Jacob and his parents were immediately transferred by ambulance to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, where more tests were carried out to find out what type of leukaemia Jacob had.

Jacob Walker in hospital during his treatment.Jacob Walker in hospital during his treatment.
Jacob Walker in hospital during his treatment.

From that point on, he remained in hospital for the next five weeks for his chemotherapy induction.

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Tests also showed up a rare chromosome which needed extra treatment.

Jacob later spent a further month in hospital through October after contracting typhlitis, which meant his chemotherapy had to be put on hold.

He is also being fed through a tube to help him gain weight.

Jacob has now finished a chemotherapy consolidation phase and is back home in Heysham while the family waits to see how successful the treatment has been.

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An already difficult time has been made even harder by the Covid-19 pandemic, because only one parent is allowed to stay in hospital with Jacob at a time, and his sisters - Lily, 12, and seven-year-old Isla - have not been able to visit him at all.

"It's like our family was literally sawn in two," Anja said. "It was very difficult."

If all goes to plan, it is expected that Jacob will undergo three years of treatment in total.

The treatment means 11-year-old Jacob has missed out on starting in Year 7 at Morecambe Bay Academy.

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He has been helped out by tutors in hospital to ensure he doesn't miss out on too much work.

"He is so positive," Anja said. "He has been so brave.

"He never questions anything, he just takes it all and is so strong.

"We are very proud of him.

"This is the hardest thing we have ever had to go through but we know we are going to come out the other side."

To donate to Pauline's fundraising page for the Walker family, go online here

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