A 13-year-old boy has tragically died just one day after doctors diagnosed him with a rare form of blood cancer.
Schoolboy Tom Walker was rushed to the hospital after he experienced severe health problems in May last year. During the check-up, the doctors discovered the boy had acute myeloid leukemia.
According to cancer.org, acute myeloid leukemia is an aggressive type of cancer that “starts in the bone marrow … but most often it quickly moves into the blood, as well.”
From there, cancer can quickly, and before evident symptoms emerge, spread throughout the body and make its way into the liver, lymph nodes, central nervous system, spleen, and testicles.
After the shocking diagnosis, Tom underwent emergency surgery but succumbed to the deadly condition only hours later.
Since the boy’s tragic and unexpected death, his parents Tim and Debbie managed to raise over $130,000 for Cancer Research Wales in an attempt to honor the boy’s memory.
“It is hard to know exactly how many people have worked towards reaching the £100,000 goal, but it is estimated to be in the thousands,” the family wrote in a statement.
“We would like to say thank you to every single person that has helped us achieved this incredible target.
“Every time someone does any fundraising, it shows us, as a family, that people are thinking of and remembering Tom. And we thank you all from the bottom of our hearts.
“We hope that by funding this research, we can change the odds so that people affected by this type of leukaemia are more likely to survive be it by earlier diagnosis or by more effective treatment.”
Speaking of the late schoolboy, his friend and classmate said Tom was a “very popular and caring” pupil.
“He was always fair. He had an incredible sense of what was right and what was wrong. He would have taken anything on, but this was a very one-sided fight,” Tom’s mum, Debbie, added.
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