In October 2019, when Caleb was just 3 years old, he was diagnosed with Leukaemia. He was treated at Sheffield Children’s on the Oncology and Haematology ward, and after two years of intense treatment, he was found to be cancer free.
To celebrate, the charity invited him to the Farewell Event of the Bears of Sheffield sculpture trail, where he rang the ward bell to mark the occasion. The 2021 public art trail funded the transformation of the ward where Caleb received his care.
Caleb returned to school and was getting on well, but in early May 2023, he started to have cold like symptoms and a loss of appetite. Initially, his mum, Becky, wasn’t too concerned but on 6 May she noticed a rash on his back that wouldn’t go away with pressure. Due to his previous diagnosis, she knew this could be a sign of low platelets and she took him to A&E the next morning.
Following blood tests, it was confirmed that Caleb’s cancer had returned.
Becky remembers: “The doctor came to see us, and I recognised them from the Cancer and Leukaemia Ward and then I just knew it was bad news. It was the person who had told us about Caleb’s diagnosis the first time around, and we actually cried together. I was instantly transported back into a world I never wanted to be in to begin with.”
Caleb was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, a different type of cancer to the one he’d had in 2019. The doctors were surprised as this is incredibly rare, but after consultation with specialists from as far away as Philadelphia in the USA, it was decided that he needed a bone marrow transplant. They didn’t have a perfect match so after much testing it was decided the best option was to use the bone marrow of his nine-year-old sister, Faith.
Faith’s bone marrow was harvested and then frozen ahead of Caleb’s surgery. Thankfully the surgery was successful, and Caleb’s recovery was remarkable.
Becky said: “Caleb was recovering so well that it surprised everyone. If you met him now you would have no idea of everything he’s been through.”
Caleb won’t ring the bell again until he is two years post-surgery, but nearly all his medication has now been stopped, and the one that remains he will take for the rest of his life.
Having received care on the ward prior to its transformation, Becky was struck by the difference charity funding had made to the space.
She said: “The bears [of Sheffield sculpture trail] last time raised money specifically for the ward, and coming back, we could see all the hard work that had been done.
When we were in isolation, it meant so much that we could look out the window to the park. We had friends come and stand across the road and wave. It made such a difference to be able to have those moments and not feel so alone.
There’s more room now, and more individual bedrooms, and you don’t realise how much these things mean until you have them.”
Children like Caleb are at the heart of everything we do. With your support we fund the life-changing and the joy-sparking at Sheffield Children’s.
We make clinical care kinder and bad days brighter, We bring play, laughter and comfort to places where they’re needed the most. We fund groundbreaking research, specialist medical equipment and new facilities, creating an engaging environment built with children in mind.
Find out how you can support life-changing care like Caleb’s here.
