Mom Finds Out Her Son Has Leukemia After Taking Him to Doctor to Get Possible Bug Bite Checked Out: 'My Gut Told Me Otherwise'

Mar. 15, 2025

A stock photo of an adult holding a child’s hand.Photo:gorodenkoff/Getty

gorodenkoff/Getty

Ollie, now 8, and his family — including his mom Anna and dad Andrew — “headed off for a final weekend away camping off-grid before school was due to start” three years ago, according to his story on theStarlight Children’s Foundation page.

Ollie had “developed a fever after getting an infected toe the week prior” to the trip and in the 10 days that followed, he suffered from “consistent high temperatures, nose bleeds, bruising and extreme fatigue,” the site stated.

Anna then noticed “something was terribly wrong” while the family — which also included Ollie’s older siblings Isabella, Matilda and Elliott — was sitting around the campfire. After they headed home and booked an emergency doctor’s appointment, bone marrow tests confirmed Ollie had acute lymphoblastic leukemia just days after he celebrated his 5th birthday, Starlight said.

A stock photo of a doctor writing notes.krisanapong detraphiphat/Getty

krisanapong detraphiphat/Getty

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made, according to theMayo Clinic.

“I remember the GP telling me she was sending Ollie to ED for precautionary testing to rule out ‘one thing,’ ” Anna said, per Starlight. “I thought I was just being paranoid when I asked, ‘Could it be leukemia?’ ”

She told Australian news outletMamamiaof learning about Ollie’s diagnosis, “The doctors walked in and I saw a person with a badge, and it was an oncologist. The first question was, ‘Do you know much about leukemia?’ "

“It was like I was looking at the doctors talking, and their mouths were moving but I was in this whirlwind. I was looking at Ollie and he was looking at me, and looking at my husband. He was trying to be reassuring, but I could see the fear in his eyes,” she told the publication. “Everything we had planned up until this point was going to dramatically change.”

“At that moment, our lives changed forever. It felt as though someone had just reached into our chests and ripped our hearts out. Hearing the word ‘cancer’ as a parent is incredibly devastating,” Anna added, per the Starlight website.

A stock photo of a nurse with a young patient.ljubaphoto/Getty

ljubaphoto/Getty

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The family started an Orange for Ollie groupon Facebook, where they provide updates on the 8-year-old’s health.

In a post on Monday, Jan. 27, they revealed that the youngster had “celebrated his birthday doing what he loves most … camping, riding his bike and being in water” last week, adding a cute montage clip.

“Happy 8th birthday to our beautiful boy. You are our hero, our heart, and one of our greatest gifts,” the caption read.

PEOPLE reached out to the family via an Orange for Ollie email address, but they did not immediately respond.

source: people.com