Plea to help 'poorly' Louth boy Mason who is receiving chemotherapy for Christmas

For nine-year-old Mason Taylor has an aggressive form of leukaemia. And when he wakes up on Christmas morning, before he opens his presents, he faces a 190-mile round trip to hospital for his latest round of chemotherapy treatment.

The best festive gift of all that he could receive is backing for an appeal that has been set up by his mum and dad, asking for financial donations to help Mason get through an intense recovery programme that will span three years.

Already, almost £8,000 has been raised from 176 donations to a GoFund Me page, which can be found here. The target is £20,000.

"We naturally hate asking for help, especially financial,” said dad Ian, 33, who is a teacher at Woodlands Academy in Spilsby.

“But this has destroyed us as a family, and no child or parent should have to go through it. We will do anything we can to get Mason whatever he needs to help him through his journey.

"Mason is such a happy boy. He hasn’t complained about anything. But there is a long road ahead, and we can’t do it alone.

"Thankyou for all your support and help. It means the world to us.”

Mason is the eldest of four children living at the family home of Ian and wife Jess, 30, who is a senior renewals specialist for an American insurance company. The others are a five-year-old and twins, aged two.

It was mid-October when Mason, a pupil at Kidgate Primary Academy in Louth, was diagnosed. He began to feel under the weather, but his condition was initially brushed off by doctors as an infection.

Fast-forward two weeks and he had to be rushed to hospital in Grimsby, where tests, scans and X-rays revealed he had a collapsed lung, pneumonia and an abnormal blood-count.

He was then dispatched to Sheffield Children’s Hospital where, Ian says, “Mason went through some of the worst procedures you can imagine for a child – all while being constantly sick and treated with multiple medications, including steroids, which come with a host of side-effects”.

"He was in intensive care for about a week in an unstable condition, requiring oxygen and constant monitoring,” Ian went on.

"It was then confirmed that Mason has T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Nothing prepares you for that. It was hard to compute at first.

"It has been a mad, tough few weeks. It has massively changed our lives.”

After a time in hospital, Mason began to stabilise. He is now back home and currently on his second, severe phase of chemotherapy, which is administered by outreach nurses.

Normally, he needs to visit the Sheffield hospital at least once a week. But because of holiday working patterns, he must make the journey with Ian every day during Christmas week.

The combination of his illness and his treatment has left Mason extremely fatigued and at high risk of infection because of his low immune system. He is confined to bed or a wheelchair for most of the day, and has had to cope with the loss of his hair.

"It is heartbreaking, watching Mason,” admitted Ian. “Some days, it is as if he is wasting away. He can’t walk more than 50 to 100 yards. You wish you could swap places with him.

"No nine-year-old should have to go through that. He should be at school with his friends, playing on his PlayStation or going to the cinema, just like a normal kid. He is missing out on his childhood.

"He is a poorly boy but he is also such a smart, intelligent and selfless boy. He knows what’s going on and just cracks on with it. He never kicks up a fuss.”

The whole trauma has put a considerable strain on the Taylors as a family unit. They have tried to create a routine that ensures the younger children are unfazed by, and shielded from, the worst effects.

Even on Christmas Day, when Mason and Ian return from hospital, the usual traditions will be followed. The presents will be under the Christmas tree, and the family will tuck into Christmas dinner.

But they know that it will be some time yet before there is a shining light at the end of the tunnel for Mason and he can ring that bell to mark remission and the end of treatment.

"As long as everything goes well, his prognosis is good,” explained Ian. “His residual disease has dropped massively, and the doctors are happy.

"But the next couple of years of his life are going to be a bit horrible. Mason’s needs are increasing.

“There will be huge travel costs from Louth to Sheffield and we need financial help with things like parking, PPE at home, adaptive furniture, anti-microbial bedding and towels, cleaning products and increased electricity bills because we need to wash his clothes and bedding more frequently.

"We will receive support through the Disability Living Allowance to help with various expenses, but that will only stretch so far.”

That is why Ian and Jess launched their GoFundMe appeal – and they have been staggered by the response so far.

"The local community has been amazing,” said Ian. “The amount of support has been overwhelming.

"Someone at work donated a wheelchair, my nephew is shaving his head to raise money and my sister and friends have also organised fundraisers.

"Ryan, at Blaze Competitions, has done more than he has needed to, running competitions to raise funds. And someone even donated tickets to see Disney On Ice.

"I myself will be planning multiple fundraisers for the hospitals and charities that have helped us. We have met some amazing doctors, nurses and hospital staff, and we will be forever grateful to them.

"I can’t thank everybody enough. It has all restored my faith in humanity.”