'We thought our son was going to live a normal life - then we received devastating call'

When Dylan Jeffs was given the all-clear for cancer at Birmingham Children's Hospital, his family thought he could finally live a 'normal life'. After more than three years, he eventually rang the bell and celebrated his end of treatment for Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).

But in a devastating phone call in October, Cradley Heath couple Russell, 38, and Rachael Jeffs, 35 were told his cancer had relapsed within six months - now making their six-year-old boy a high risk patient. He will have to undergo both treatment and a stem cell transplant, with the family having to self-isolate and take similar measures to in "Covid times" to minimise risks.

Dylan will be spending Christmas, and much of the festive period, in hospital as he awaits a suitable donor. Dad-of-two Russell told BirminghamLive: "On December 16, he'll be back into hospital for preparation for a stem cell transplant which they're hoping to do between December and January time.

READ MORE: Family set to celebrate Christmas a month early on November 30

"We've got to self isolate and go back to Covid times, we've got to wear masks, we've got to change our clothes regularly, take regular showers, use anti-bac hand gels." The parents, who both work but will have to take time off to care for Dylan, are now hoping to raise funds to help them with bills, food and fuel to and from the hospital.

Their son was first diagnosed with cancer when he was just two. The couple, who work as a HGV driver and social worker, initially became worried as Dylan was increasingly tired and avoided playing with toys.

"He began to be very lazy-like, instead of getting up all he'd want to do is lie down and watch TV and not do a lot. We were in agreement that something wasn't not right," said Russell, reflecting on his first diagnosis in 2021.

"I phoned NHS direct 111 and they asked all the questions. At the end of it they said they'd pass the information on and a doctor would get back to us and that was that the conversation was over." The couple then became increasingly alarmed as they noticed a purple rash resembling blood spots on his leg.

"Of course you see that kind of thing and you think meningitis so we got the glass rolled it on the spots and they weren't disappearing. We were more and more concerned. I said: 'I'm not waiting for NHS direct, I'm phoning an ambulance.'"

Paramedics told the couple they wanted to take Dylan to Birmingham Children's Hospital for "further investigation" - which later led to the cancer diagnosis. "Of course this is through Covid, so there's only one parent in," Russell said.

"Then I had a call from Rachael to say the doctors want to speak to both of us. Straight away when in Covid, you know something's not right. Neither of us expected to be told it was suspected ALL, leukaemia."

After it was confirmed, Dylan was kept in and began treatment immediately, including intense chemotherapy, lumber punctures and bone marrow samples being taken. It's been a tough few years for the family, with his treatment lasting three-and-a-half years until he could finally ring the bell this April.

Russell explained: "We had a big end of treatment party in April. Everything was OK - or so we thought. We thought he was going to live a fairly normal life, we thought that would be it, he's kicked cancer's backside, it's been a rough three-and-a-half years, but we got through it, let's enjoy life now as we are.

"Unfortunately, we had a phone call to say they found leukaemia markers again and he's relapsed, this was in October of 2024. This now means he has to start the whole process again, but because he's relapsed with in six months he's gone from low-risk to high-risk."

Dylan is now undergoing weekly chemotherapy at the hospital and is awaiting a stem cell donor. Russell added: "The hospital are actively looking for donors, but as of last week they hadn't found one. They said the Christmas period changes people's positions of whether they want to get into that.

"Basically if they can't find a donor, they will have to put him on a maintenance chemotherapy - just for the Christmas and Jan/ Feb period to get us into the New Year. Then hopefully people might be a little more giving in terms of volunteering to donate.

"But even when some random member of the public decides to be a donor and donate for us, there's still no guarantee Dylan's body is going to accept that donor, and still no guarantee he's going to recover from this. We just don't know what the future holds."

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