THE family and friends of a seriously ill Oldham boy have begun a 67 mile walk in order to give him the trip of a lifetime.
Peter Haworth, Joe Jeffers and Frank Jeffers set off this morning from the Etihad stadium and plan to trek to York by 4pm tomorrow.
They are fundraising for Daniel Lord, an 11-year-old suffering an incredibly rare form of cancer.
Daniel’s mother, Joanne, said that Daniel’s illness began on the 18th November when he got home from school with a clear facial issue resembling that of a stroke.
After a series of tests and misdiagnoses, Daniel was found to have a tumour in the brain, which upon removal was discovered to actually be an aggressive form of lymphoma.
This lymphoma, a variation of Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma, is allegedly very rare, with Daniel being the second child in 25 years to get this condition in the North-East.
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“Our world had been turned upside down.”
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Daniel has since undertaken six of seven rounds of chemotherapy to battle the disease.
Joanne said: “It was very traumatic at the time, and it still is. We don’t know how we’ve dealt with it. We just take it one day at a time.”
Daniel has since been referred to on social media as #TheBoyWhoLostHisSmileToCancer.
The fundraising began, said Joanne, with a neighbour beginning a fundraising campaign for the family around Christmas time.
She said: “Our world had been turned upside down and we didn’t know what we were going to be able to do for Christmas.
“We didn’t end up using the money so me, Joseph and Daniel had a sit down to discuss how we should use the money and Daniel asked if we could put it towards going to Disneyland when this was all over.”
This new goal was then posted on a Facebook Manchester City page to get the ball rolling.
This is where the three trekkers and organiser Emma Beck decided to take these matters into their own hands.
They elected to attempt this walk to raise £5,000 for Daniel on JustGiving, with any leftovers being given to the Sick Children’s Trust.
Though they have never met Daniel, Emma said they felt an affinity with the cause.
She said: “Daniel is a big Manchester City fan, as are we all. We are like one big family. If one of us needs help we’re there for each other.”
Things are starting to look up for Daniel, with his MRI results coming back showing barely any cancer.
He has also today received a letter from the Make-A-Wish Foundation telling him that once he is well again, he will get to go and see Manchester City play at the Etihad.
Daniel will meet his fundraising friends for the first time at 4pm tomorrow in York.
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