Mother of 6-year-old with blood cancer reveals subtle signs his illness wasn’t just the ‘winter virus’ doctors said it was

A Hampshire mother has told of the subtle telltale sign that her son’s ‘Christmas bug’ was different from a normal cold – and in fact something much more sinister.

The family of six-year-old Jimmy Cragg were repeatedly told by doctors that his sore throat and cough were ‘a swollen gland’, ‘tonsillitis’ or ‘the usual school Christmas bug’.

But subsequent blood tests last month revealed that it was in fact leukemia, a form of blood cancer.

His mother Wendy Cragg, 43, who works for a medical concierge clinic, said it would have been easy not to question the doctor’s diagnosis had there not been a lump in his neck.

She warned other parents to look out for swelling on their child’s body as it can tell normal bugs from cancer.

She said: ‘You need to look out for glands in the groin (and neck) area.

‘We’re lucky we caught it early, but that’s because we took him to A&E even though we were told not to.

“Who knows what would have happened if we hadn’t done that? I would tell parents to trust their guts.”

Mrs Cragg, from Yateley in Hampshire, added that another sign that Jimmy’s condition was more serious was the bruising on his back.

“But that’s difficult, because six-year-olds encounter everything,” she says.

Recalling the onset of the illness last November, she described “the usual flu-like symptoms.”

‘He had a cold and a cough, and a dry mouth and a sore throat.

‘However, when we noticed the small lump on his neck, we took him to the doctor. But they said, “don’t worry, it’s just a swollen gland.”

‘He didn’t get better over the next few weeks and we called 111 a few times.

‘But they just told us, ‘All the kids at school have it. It’s one of the usual Christmas bugs.’

Mrs Cragg recalled that her husband Will, 46, a surveyor-engineer, became even more concerned when Jimmy “started talking funny” before his school’s nativity scene.

‘We took him back to the GP and he said it was probably tonsillitis.

‘We then had to really push to give him antibiotics – and they weren’t very happy about it, but eventually prescribed him some.

‘But after five days there was still no improvement and on December 15 we called 111 again. They said we had to finish the treatment.’

That evening, however, Jimmy began vomiting, prompting his parents to call 911 again.

“A doctor told us it was only due to tonsillitis and that we should wait,” Mrs Cragg said.

“I asked if we should take him to the emergency room and they said he needed to finish his course of antibiotics.

‘But we were done by then. We got in the car and took him to the hospital.’

The family waited for hours at Southampton General Hospital and when they were seen they were told Jimmy probably had glandular fever rather than tonsillitis.

But the family insisted on more blood tests and asked to be seen by a consultant, which raised alarm bells about the bruising on his back.

It was then that the family received the news that Jimmy had leukemia.

‘It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. It was just the worst thing to hear. We were just really shocked. We still are,” Mrs Cragg said.

There are more than 9,900 new cases of leukemia each year in Britain and more than 62,700 in the US.

It happens when blood cells begin to grow and divide abnormally, making it difficult for healthy cells to do their job.

Swelling of your lymph nodes in the groin, armpit and neck, feeling tired, bruising easily and not being able to shake off infections easily are all warning signs of the disease, according to Cancer Research UK.

Jimmy currently receives chemotherapy once a week and undergoes lumbar punctures.

Because Jimmy spends so much time at Southampton General Hospital, the family has a GoFundMe to raise some money to improve the facilities.

Jimmy aims to walk 1,000 steps every day with his new companion – an IV pole nicknamed ROBO – and hopes to raise £25,000.

Mrs Cragg said: “The staff in our department who care for the children and their families are wonderful. But there are parts of the department that are dilapidated.

‘For example, there is a microwave, but if you want to quickly sort your evening meal, it takes ten minutes instead of three. That kind of thing.

“There’s a little family room with some games, but one day Jimmy said, ‘Maybe we can help buy some more games. I’ve played them all now.’

‘His treatment also makes him sensitive to light, and to the blinds that you can’t pull down easily. You need to attach them to something heavy.

‘He said, ‘Maybe we can buy new blinds.’ From that moment on it started to form a kind of snowball effect.’

Jimmy’s parents hope to add a ping-pong table to the family room, as well as some other fun games.

They would also like to renovate the microwave, washing machine and furniture in the department.

Mrs Cragg said: ‘The days can be extremely long. Every minute feels like an hour. So everything to put a smile on people’s faces.’

She added: “I have to admit that on Christmas Day I was extremely down.

‘It’s just sad. It’s not the same spending Christmas in the hospital.

‘We tried to make it fun for Jimmy – and the staff were so lovely too – but as a family we had plans to go to South Africa with my family.

‘It would have been the first time in twelve years.

‘I find it traumatizing every day. You get that blissful moment when you first wake up and you don’t remember it – and then it hits you.

‘But we remain strong. We try to make Jimmy as happy as possible.

“And we’re in a position where we caught this so early. So we’re grateful for that – and grateful that we trusted our instincts.”

So far, Jimmy has raised £14,000 of his £25,000 target.