‘I watched my son fight for his life - now he's starting primary school'

A Wakefield boy who spent a month in a coma while battling advanced blood cancer has celebrated a milestone his family once feared they would never see - as he starts school.

Oliver Harrison was just three years old when he fell ill on Mother’s Day 2025.

After becoming sick and lethargic, doctors detected an abnormally dilated right eye and arranged an urgent CT scan.

The examination uncovered a tumour, with subsequent testing confirming that Non-Hodgkin lymphoma had spread into his spine, abdomen, brain fluid, liver and kidneys.

His mothers, Cora, 33, and Helen, 34, endured five harrowing months at Leeds General Infirmary as Oliver underwent intensive chemotherapy.

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The aggressive treatment triggered severe mouth ulcers and wiped out his immune system, forcing the family into strict isolation with only his parents and his eight-month-old brother, Patrick, permitted to visit.

During his time in hospital, Oliver contracted both pneumonia and sepsis, and spent a month in a coma that spanned his birthday and Christmas.

Since leaving hospital on New Year’s Day, he has undertaken physiotherapy to re-learn how to walk.

Although his vision is permanently damaged and he requires regular check-ups and steroids, Oliver is now cancer-free and walked through the school gates for the first time last week.

Cora and Helen are now backing Blood Cancer UK’s “Here for This” campaign, designed to draw attention to early symptoms and the everyday childhood events stolen by the condition.

Cora said: “We went from having an energetic little boy who loved trains and going to the park, to watching our son puffed up with steroids, losing the ability to walk and at one point stuck in a coma for a month, desperately fighting to stay alive.

“Oliver missed out on the ordinary things like playdates with friends and important occasions.

“He spent Christmas and his birthday in a coma. He didn’t get to eat his birthday cake covered in trains which he would have adored, and we cancelled his trip on the Polar Express.

“We clung onto the hope that he would come through and that we would get to see him better, start school and do all the things so many people take for granted.”

Recalling the initial diagnosis, Cora added: “I had never heard of lymphoma and never dreamed that someone I love would get blood cancer.

“At first doctors thought he had a bug and he was given antibiotics but one spotted that his right eye was unusually dilated and did a CT scan. The next thing I knew I was being told he had a tumour. It was the worst day of my life.

“Oliver had to go through so much like having cannulas and lines put in his hands and feet. “He was at such risk of terrible infection that he didn’t see anyone except us – it was like being in a prison.

“He developed sepsis, pneumonia and got so ill he was in a coma for a month. Nothing prepares you for seeing your child like that.”

Now, his mothers are embracing the routine of the school run and playdates.

Cora said: “Every parent gets emotional about their child starting school but it is extra special seeing how excited Oliver is to make friends and learn how to read and write. We’ll never take moments like this for granted.”

Around 40,000 individuals are diagnosed annually with blood cancer in the UK, a group that includes lymphoma, leukaemia and myeloma. It represents the nation's fifth most prevalent cancer and its third largest cancer killer, despite low public awareness.

Matthew White, Director of Engagement at Blood Cancer UK says: “Every day, blood cancer snatches away people’s joyful moments and milestones – special birthdays, festive occasions, first days at school or university, job opportunities, weddings and the chance to be parents.

“We want to raise awareness so people understand the devastating impact it can have and support us to fund the research that gives children like Oliver a future.”