The distraught mum of an amazing Shotley family has spoken about the relentless struggle they have endured looking after an extremely ill and vulnerable baby during the pandemic.

Although friends, family and NHS staff have offered wonderful support for henry who was diagnosed with >>>, his mum Callan Brett and husband James have had to deal with the frustration stress and loneliness of being apart for long periods, along with deep concerns for their young child, and still caring for another son who is just four. And all this during lockdown with it heightened shielding procedures, and relentless health worries brought about by the coronavirus.

Henry was diagnosed with the extremely aggressive form of cancer Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML) in March, at just five months of age. He was taken to Addenbrookes, near Cambridge for emergency and ongoing treatment, which includes four stages of chemotherapy within six months. Callan praised the speed and efficiency of NHS staff in performing an operation to insert a Hickman line and chemotherapy within 24hours.

Since then the Brett family have been forced to live apart as the ward only allows one parent in, and no under 12s, due to Covid-19 restrictions.

"We've just been distraught for six months," mum Callan told Nub News. "There's been no let up. We've had school and nursery closures and a lack of peers affecting our eldest, on top of this.

"James and I were unable to spend any time together for the whole of July. All 31 days of it.

"We're with one kid at all times. We're unable to have a good routine at home and we can't go anywhere. I was on the high risk shielding list from day one. Henry not being able to come home for 45 days each time has been terrible, frustrating, lonely, and stressful."

Callan praised the support the family have received from the doctors and nurses and has been amazed at Henry's fortitude.

"Henry's nurses at Addenbrookes are lovely and the play team specialists are very hands on and supportive," said Callan. "Henry loves running around the ward in his walker and greeting the staff at the door in the mornings.

"We've been supported by counselling services, and we have had extra help for Theodore. We are able to get Community Nurses to reinsert the pulled Nasal Gastric tubes when the occasion arises.

"Like today, the tube has been vomited up and they'll be with us by the end of the day."

Callan has been grateful to the support of counsellors, like those from Clic Sergeant and has welcomed a move by close family friend Charlie Hillaby to raise £1,000 for the charity by completing the Three Peaks challenge, accompanied by James who admits he has not been able to train much due to everything that is going on.

CLIC Sargent fights tirelessly for children and young people with cancer, often when they feel they can't. The charity does this individually, locally and nationally, so that they can focus on the important things, like getting well. And if the worst happens, CLIC will work with bereaved families to give them support, to help them cope with their emotional pain, hopefully that will not be the case with Henry.

The mum who moved to Shotley five years ago to be with James, who has lived here 25 years, praised the support the family have received from the doctors and nurses and has been amazed at Henry's fortitude.

Callan said: "Just dealing with the day to day stuff has been hard.Our family have been amazing and we're fortunate that they've been able to get us bits from the shops and my younger brother has bought all of our son's school bits ready for September."

"We haven't been able to see them properly, and definitely not as a family of four. My mum hasn't seen Henry since he was diagnosed, and James' mum, who lives in Shotley Gate, has until July been able to give us respite nights away from the hospital to be with Theodore together."

Charlie Hillaby, James and few other friends plan to climb the three largest peaks in the UK, starting at Snowdon (Wales) onto Scafell Pike (England) and ending at Ben Nevis in Scotland.

Charlie said on his Go Fund Me page: "Everyday he (Henry) wakes up with a beautiful smile on his face and the smile of an amazing woman looking back at him.

"He doesn't know but at this moment his family are unable to be physically together as a family because of Covid-19. So whilst Henry and his mummy are in hospital in Cambridge his older brother and dad are home unable to be by his side physically."

"Together they are the strongest family I know. All the things they've been though but every time they smash though any obstacle put in front of them, together."

Link for more details and on how to donate here...