A five-year-old boy told his stomach pains were due to constipation has been diagnosed with a rare cancer and told he will never walk again.
Little Daniel Carter had been complaining of pains in his stomach for months and doctors told his family that he just had constipation.
However after his parents Katie and Kevin Carter found him collapsed on the floor of their home in May he was rushed to hospital and underwent urgent tests.
They were devastated to be told that he had a cancer of the chest and spine.
Daniel has since undergone six gruelling months of treatment and will have to endure another eight months of chemotherapy after a ten-hour operation which he is due to have tomorrow (weds Oct 19)
An initial operation on his spine removed the majority of the tumour but tragically it was so badly damaged, Daniel will never be able to walk again.
But mum Katie, from Hull, East Yorks., remains upbeat and described her son as “absolutely amazing”.
She said: “Daniel is really cheeky, he is always full of smiles no matter what.
“Because he is so young he doesn’t fully get how ill he is, but we have just said to him that he is really poorly and he doesn’t even ask.
“What he’s been through is so much, especially for a five-year-old, but he has been absolutely amazing.”
Mrs Carter explained the family were given the devastating news earlier this year.
She said: “The tumour is by his spinal cord and it has been damaged by it.
The first bit of his operation also damaged his spine. After that operation we were told he would never walk again.
“It’s awful but at the end of the day I said at least he is going to have the rest of his life.”
She added: “It has been a tough time. The operation on Wednesday will be really hard but Daniel has been really brave.”
Now the family has teamed up with local charity Nice 2b Nice to raise £9,000 to convert Daniel’s garden to make it an accessible and a safe play area for him.
Mrs Carter said a new garden would “mean the world” to her son and would be incredibly grateful for any help they could get.
She said: “We have only just moved here and the garden is not safe.
“Because he’s in his chair he is not able to go out as much and is tripping himself up and it’s not really safe for him to be out there.
“He loves being outside and it really means the world to him. When we first met the charity Daniel was just really excited and was asking him to come over and do it straight away.
“It would just be so much better for him, because he could be out there and play with his brother as well.”
David Freer, of Nice 2b Nice, said he has donated a third of the £9,000 needed and is appealing for any businesses or individuals who can donate money towards the garden to come forward.
Mr Freer said: “We want to make the garden accessible for him so he can be outside.
“He is only five and is he going through so much and he deserves a place outside he can play in.”
Donations of £3 can be made to Daniel’s cause by texting LFK NICE to 70300 or through www.virginmoneygiving.com/Nice2bNice.
