Family’s shock as tot is diagnosed with cancer

Carter Nightingale’s cancer diagnoses plunged his family into shock.

His mum Hannah Carter, 25, and dad, Daniel Nightingale, 30, were devastated but grateful he received medical treatment in time.

The couple took Carter, aged two, to hospital last year after he fell out of bed during the night and the following day he struggled to walk.

The anxious couple suspected the tot had suffered a broken leg but the truth proved to be far worse.

Hannah said: “When we got to hospital they said if we hadn’t noticed and brought him in, they didn’t think he would be here.

“We would have had a dead child or a very ill child, so I feel like someone was watching over us.

“I just thought: ‘Thank God he fell out of bed’.”

Blood tests were carried out and doctors informed the pair Carter had acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Hannah says although this type of leukaemia starts off slowly, it can become aggressive. Carter was immediately transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridgeshire for surgery, where he was rushed into theatre.

The operation to put in a central venous line and for a blood and platelet transfusion was only due to last two hours but took six and a half hours.

After surgery, the parents were horrified when they saw intensive care nurses surrounding the bed.

Because Carter had some fluid on his lungs hospital staff decided to make a central line incision in his neck but it started haemorrhaging.

Hannah, of St Osyth, said: “I had to hold him while he was haemorrhaging on my lap because he didn’t want anyone to touch him.

“There was so much blood and I could see the panic on Carter’s face.”

Carter began his chemotherapy but his treatment was anything but smooth after developing sepsis seven times and was suffering from chronic diarrhoea.

Although Carter no longer has leukaemia cells in his body, he will still need treatment until 2021 to prevent them from growing back.

The diagnosis has hit the family hard and in particular the couple’s two other children Trinity and Scarlett.

Hannah said: “Our eldest must have heard stuff at school because she asked me: ‘Mummy is Carter going to die?’

“We didn’t want to lie to her because we don’t know what will happen in the future, so we just said Carter is really poorly and we don’t know what will happen.”

The family now face a years-long battle and regular hospital treatment.

They hope to raise enough money to help with living costs at the hospital and to make some memories for the family.

To donate, visit gofundme.com/f/helpforcarter.