A teenager was given a heartbreaking cancer diagnosis after a rash appeared on his body from his feet all the way up to his arms.
Harvey, who is autistic, was prescribed tablets to help him cope after he developed 'agonising' pains last month. The teen, who lives with his mum Jessica, dad Stuart and four siblings in Middleton was 'in agony' after the medicine did not ease his pain, which quickly escalated and left him struggling to walk properly.
His anxious parents said Harvey had always had a high pain threshold but they knew something was really wrong with his health, the MEN reports. They visited Oldham Hospital's A&E department on February 9 where Jessica said a doctor said Harvey's 'muscles were tight' after he 'felt his back'.
He was prescribed diazepam and sent home but the pain he was suffering from worsened very quickly. Jessica, who is a nurse, recalled her son crying in his room at night and ran him a bath to soothe the pain when she noticed a rash on his feet had spread to his arms.
She explained: "As he came out of the bath he noticed a rash coming on his arm and said he had it on his feet. All I could describe it as was speckly, like burst blood vessels where the blood comes to the surface of the skin.
"We had taken him to A&E because it had escalated to the point where he couldn't walk. He was in absolute agony."
On February 14 after struggling to get a hold of a GP, Jessica and Stuart immediately dialled 111 and paramedics arrived at the house to take the teen back to A&E at Oldham. There he was given morphine to cope with extreme pain he was in and had turned very pale.
A consultant decided to take some crucial blood tests from Harvey which led to him being diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia. Jessica said: "It was horrendous. His dad was with him and I was at home.
"When they phoned me to tell me I remember just screaming. I broke down. We couldn't believe it. I couldn't wrap my head around it or process what was going on at first.
"Then I got my nurses head on and asked straight away what the next steps were." Harvey was transferred to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital that same day and further tests revealed he was suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) which is a type of blood cancer that starts from white blood cells called lymphocytes in the bone marrow.
It is the most common type of leukaemia to affect children and develops quickly over the course of days or weeks. Jessica said: "In my head, I just knew we were going to get the worst news from those results, which we did. Within the day they were telling us the treatment plan for Harvey.
Doctors created a four-week long treatment plan starting from February 15 which consisted of gruelling and intensive chemotherapy with Harvey now taking three lots of medication per week. Jessica added: "They are going to essentially blast him with the chemotherapy. It's absolutely horrendous.
"He has become nauseous, lethargic, and is hardly eating anything. It totally weakens his whole immune system."
"Harvey's autism shines through but he's very high functioning. Everybody that meets him just calls him amazing. He is usually so bubbly.
"Even when he came into the hospital he was apologising for being poorly and thanking everyone. He is an amazing son." Doctors will review how Harvey's body reacts to the treatment and he will remain in hospital for weeks.
The mum-of-five has now taken the opportunity to issue a warning to other parents about the possible symptoms of his illness. She said: "Harvey could be stuck there for months, it all just depends on how his body reacts, although because of his age, they do generally have positive outcomes.
"I've got four other children, so we are juggling that at the moment too, whilst also wanting to be here with Harvey constantly It's an absolute whirlwind, an emotional rollercoaster, but from going through this we know how important it is to not just accept the first answer you're given if you feel something is wrong.
"Especially because children and teenagers have falls or bumps all the time, but it could still be something sinister. My fear is other teenagers could present with these pains and not know they are at risk.
"They just need a simple blood tests to get the answers and rule it out." Family friends have since set up a fundraising page to help raise donations for the family as Jessica takes time off work to care for her son. You can donate here.
The Northern Care Alliance, which manages Oldham Hospital, has been approached for comment.
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