A mother-of-three is facing double heartbreak after her two sons were diagnosed with cancer within just four months.
Keri Redfearn, 32, from Wakefield, thought she was living her worst nightmare when her 10-year-old son Leo was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in October last year, after doctors repeatedly dismissed his symptoms.
Just four months later, she suffered a further blow as Leo’s younger brother, Oliver, started experiencing pains on Christmas Day only to later be diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at just six-years-old.
Ms Redfearn said: ‘If you can imagine your worst nightmare and times that by 100 – that’s what it feels like.
‘To have two children diagnosed is almost unheard of’.
While the brothers endure their grueling treatments, they lie side-by-side in their hospital beds, raising each others’ spirits when it all gets too much.
Ms Redfearn is speaking out to raise awareness of childhood cancers.
A mother-of-three is facing double heartbreak after her two sons (Leo left and Oliver right) were diagnosed with cancer within just four months of each other
Leo (pictured in hospital), 10, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in October last year
The brothers (pictured with their sister Isobel, now five) have hospital beds next to each other
‘They’re as close as brothers can be’
Speaking of how Leo and Oliver have supported each other, Ms Redfearn said: ‘They’re two completely different kids, but as close as brothers can be.
‘They squabble but they love each other to bits; I think they’re just typical brothers.
‘Oliver loves to chat and he encourages Leo to take his medicine; something Leo’s been struggling with since he’s been having treatment for four months and he’s in a really tough part of it right now.’
The brothers also keep track of their progress through their ‘beads of courage’, which involves adding a bead onto string for every procedure they complete.
Leo’s string is more than 20-feet long after four months of treatment, while Oliver’s is just getting started.
The brothers’ treatment has also affected their five-year-old sister Isobel as Ms Redfearn and her husband Shaun, 59, each spend three days in hospital and then trade places to spend time at home.
She said: ‘Isobel really misses everybody and because she has autism change is something she struggles with.
‘So she’s finding it hard because while it used to be the whole family there, now she’s only got one person left at home with her.
Oliver (pictured in hospital) was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at just six-years-old
Leo’s painful symptoms were dismissed by doctors, but his mother demanded he be tested
His mother Keri Redfearn, 32, became concerned when she noticed his protruding bones
‘There needs to be more research to help families like ours’
Ms Redfearn is speaking out to raise awareness of childhood cancers and support a charity that has helped her through this ordeal.
She said: ‘Childhood cancer is so rare that there’s not the research there for it; there’s around 100 children a year diagnosed. There needs to be more research to help families like ours and more awareness.
‘For mum’s I think if there’s a problem with the child, if they think there’s something going on, then they should push for a test.
She added: ‘There’s a charity called Candlelighters that have really helped us. They offer brilliant support for families, they hold your hand when you need them the most; they’re there if I need them or if I need to cry and if you want go out for a moment.
‘The work that they do is just incredible, having someone there that you’ve never met before such a huge rock and it’s so fantastic.’
Ms Redfearn said its been a worst nightmares times 100 (the brothers before they became ill)
Leo (pictured before becoming ill) is in a ‘really tough’ phase of his grueling treatment
Ms Redfearn (pictured) initially hoped their diagnoses had been some awful mistake
‘The whole world falls out from under you’
Speaking of their diagnoses, Ms Redfearn said: ‘It’s like the whole world falls out from under you and I think we all just kept hoping it was a mistake.
‘It started last February when Leo was suffering from pain in his ribs. At first we thought it was growing pains, but then the pains got so bad that the school were ringing me as they were so concerned.
‘The doctors thought it was an inflammation of the chest muscles, and we kept going back but we were told it was all in his head and that he just didn’t want to go to school.’
It was not until a family holiday when Ms Redfearn and her husband noticed Leo’s protruding bones.
She said: ‘I marched into the doctors told them that there really was something wrong and, finally, they did give him the tests.’
Tests revealed Leo had an unusual mass that prompted him to start treatment.
His family were then thrust into a new life of hospitals, scans, blood tests and biopsies.
Leo (picture taken recently) has lost his hair due to the cancer treatment he has endured
Leo (pictured before he became ill) struggles to remember to take his many medications
Oliver (pictured before he became ill) started experiencing pains on Christmas Day
‘He didn’t want to eat, even in McDonald’s’
As if Leo’s diagnosis was not enough to deal with, Oliver shortly also began to feel unwell.
Ms Redfearn said: ‘It was Christmas day when Oliver started having pains and we put it down to him suffering a bit because of the change and we thought it was probably a bit psychological.
‘We got a play therapist involved, but he just wasn’t right. Oliver’s not a drama queen, but he seemed to lose the colour in his face and he didn’t want to eat, even in McDonald’s.
‘This time the doctors did take us seriously and they said “if he’s still unwell in two week, bring him back and we’ll take some tests”.
Oliver was eventually diagnosed and the family’s lives were turned upside-down once again.
The brothers place a bead on string for every treatment they complete (Oliver’s pictured)
Leo’s (pictured) measures more than 20 feet after four months of treatment