THE family of a three-year-old boy diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer have launched a campaign to raise the £250,000 needed to send him for pioneering treatment in America.

Freddie Thompson was diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma when he was only two years old.

Fundraising is now under way to send Freddie to New York for a new vaccine, which will hopefully decrease the chance of a relapse.

The youngster, who lives in Ampleforth with his parents Philip and Emily and older brother Oscar, underwent 80 days of chemotherapy, followed by surgery to remove the tumour.

Mrs Thompson said: “In the early stages of Freddie’s illness thinking, at worst, he had an infection, we didn’t even consider he could have cancer. Following scans we were given the news that our bubbly little boy had an aggressive, rare cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes.

“Nothing could have prepared us for this news as our whole world came crashing down. I felt as if I had all the oxygen sucked out of me, I couldn’t breathe and couldn’t talk through my tears.”

Freddie’s primary tumour responded to the chemotherapy and he was able to have surgery to remove it and most of the lymph nodes affected by the cancer. For the last month Freddie has been in an isolation ward at Leeds General Infirmary having had intensive chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.

Freddie, who celebrated his third birthday on January 15, has also suffered hair loss, nausea and

vomiting, blistering on the inside of his mouth and peeling, bleeding skin.

His liver has also become enlarged, a condition known as VOD caused by the high dose chemotherapy for his stem cell transplant, leaving his body unable to process fluids.

Mrs Thompson said: “The last six months have been extremely challenging, seeing your child so poorly is not something any parent should have to go through.

“Freddie has been so brave, keeping his smile and keeping both Philip and I going over this difficult time. It’s also been heartbreaking to spend Christmas and Freddie’s third birthday in hospital. As he has been on an isolation ward he has been unable to have any visitors so we can’t wait to get home and see everyone again.”

The family are fundraising for Freddie to receive the new vaccine, which, in previous trials, has decreased the chance of relapse to 30 per cent.

“Freddie’s Fight” has already raised more than £48,000 with a number of fundraising events planned.

Mrs Thompson said: “We have recently been given hope for Freddie when we received information of the bivalent vaccine, currently only available in America, and want to give our beautiful, sweet son the best chance of survival from this horrendous disease.

“The support and generosity of everyone who has donated so far has been overwhelming and we can’t thank everyone enough. We still have a long way to go to reach our target but we believe we can get there. So many people have organised events ranging from cake sales to non-uniform days and dinner dances to tractor runs and we are eternally thankful to them.

“While the cost to get him this vaccine is massive, the potential cost of him not receiving it are unthinkable.”

To see what fundraising events are planned and to make a donation, go to Freddie’s Fight! on Facebook.