Mother of six year-old with blood most cancers reveals delicate signal his sickness wasn’t simply the ‘winter bug’ docs stated 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 far more sinister.

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

But subsequent blood tests last month revealed it was in fact leukaemia — a type 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 it not been for a lump on his neck.

She warned other parents to watch out for a swelling on their child’s body, as it can distinguish regular bugs from cancer. 

She said: ‘You should look out for glands in the groin [and neck] area. 

‘We’re lucky that 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 didn’t? I’d tell parents they have to trust their guts.’

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

‘But that’s difficult, as six-year-olds bump into everything,’ she said. 

Recalling the beginning of the illness in November last year, she described ‘the usual flu-like symptoms’. 

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

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

‘He wasn’t getting better over the next few weeks and we made a couple calls to 111.

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

Ms Cragg recalled that her husband Will, 46, an engineer surveyor, grew even more concerned when Jimmy ‘started speaking funny’ before his school’s Nativity.

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

‘We then had to really push to get him antibiotics — and they weren’t very forthcoming with it but finally prescribed some for him.

‘But after five days, he was still showing no improvement and we called 111 again on December 15. They told us to finish the course.’

However, that evening Jimmy started vomiting prompting his parents to call 111 again. 

‘A doctor told us it was just due to tonsillitis and we needed to wait it out,’ Ms Cragg said.

‘I asked whether we should take him to A&E 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 hospital.’ 

The family spent hours waiting in Southampton General Hospital and when they were seen, were told Jimmy probably had glandular fever rather than tonsillitis.

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

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

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

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

It happens when blood cells begin to grow and divide abnormally, making it hard 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 is currently having chemotherapy once a week and undergoing lumbar punctures.

Since Jimmy is spending so much time at Southampton General Hospital, the family set up a GoFundMe to raise some money to improve the facilities.

Jimmy is aiming to walk 1,000 steps every day with his new companion — an IV stand nicknamed ROBO — and hopes to raise £25,000.

Ms Cragg said: ‘The staff on our ward who look after the kids and their families are amazing. But there are parts of the ward that are run-down.

‘For example, there’s a microwave, but when you’re trying to quickly sort your evening ready meal, it takes ten minutes instead of three. That kind of thing.

‘There’s a small family room with some games but one day Jimmy just said, “Maybe we could help get some more games. I’ve played them all now.”

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

‘He said: “Maybe we could get some new blinds.” It just kind of snowballed from there.’

Jimmy’s parents are hoping they may be able to put a ping pong table in the the family room as well as some other sociable games.

They would also like to update the ward’s microwave, washing machine, and furniture.

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

She added: ‘I must admit I was extremely down on Christmas Day.

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

‘We tried to make it fun for Jimmy — and the staff were so kind too — but as a family we had plans to be in South Africa with my family.

‘It would have been the first time in 12 years.

‘I think it’s just traumatising each day. You get that blissful moment when you first wake up when you don’t remember — and then it hits you.

‘But we’re staying strong. We’re just trying to make Jimmy as happy as we can.

‘And we are in a position where we’ve caught this 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 goal.