Our Brave Boy Kept Fighting for Life Right Up to the End ; Family's Proud Memories of 'Little Battler' Jack Ill Youngster 'Never Screamed or Shouted, He Just Got On with It'

Summary

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THE parents of a six-year-old boy who died after a year-long fight with leukaemia have described him as their "little battler". Brave Jack Parkin was diagnosed with the disease on Christmas Day 2009 and underwent three gruelling bouts of chemotherapy. When the final round of treatment failed in late October, his parents Julie and Mel were told to expect him to survive for around six weeks. But Jack defied the doctors and he saw Christmas and New Year before he died earlier this month. Julie, of Ambergate, said: "He was our little battler, our fighter. "Every time you asked him how he was feeling, Jack would say 'a little bit better'. "He was saying it up until a week-and-a-half before he died. "I used to say to him, 'do you know Jack Parkin, I don't think I've had a kiss off you yet today' and he would run around and give me the biggest kiss you could imagine. "He was just brill and we have a lifetime of memories of our fantastic son."

In October 2009, a month before his fifth birthday, Julie and Mel noticed Jack was listless and not his normal bouncy self. They took him to Royal Derby Hospital, where he was treated before being sent home. But his sickness continued. On December 22, 2009, the couple, of Ridgeway on the Hill, took him back to the hospital for more tests. Then on Christmas Day morning, Julie and Mel were given the devastating news. Julie, 38, said: "It was about 11am and we were told Jack either had leukaemia or stomach cancer and to make things worse they also found he had pneumonia in one lung and chicken pox as well." Julie said she did not stop crying for two months after hearing the news. But Jack took his condition in his stride. Mel, 49, said: "Jack never screamed or shouted, that was the sort of boy he was. "He just got on with things, that was his way." In January last year, Jack started an intense dose of chemotherapy at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre which lasted until May.

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Our Brave Boy Kept Fighting for Life Right Up to the End ; Family's Proud Memories of 'Little Battler' Jack Ill Youngster 'Never Screamed or Shouted, He Just Got On with It'

In June, Julie was able to take Jack on holiday for the summer to their caravan in Devon. But by early August his symptoms ...

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