Brighton: Fiveways family raise money for children's cancer charity

Naomi Austin and her family were rocked when Carey was diagnosed with Juvenile Myelomonocytic Leukaemia (JMML) and forced to undergo “brutal” treatment for a condition with only a 50 per cent survival rate.

Now, after life-saving treatment including a bone marrow transplant from Carey’s sister, Aubrey, Naomi has spoken of her joy over her son, now two, and how thankful she is to the people around her.

Left to right: Carey, Simon, Naomi and Aubrey Austin (Image: Naomi Austin)

Naomi, 44, from Fiveways in Brighton, said: “Carey is such a sweet, loving, funny and cheeky boy. It’s a delight watching him grow anyway but I’m so grateful each day after what he has gone through.

“As soon as we told Aubrey [now five] that Carey need her blood to make him better, she just said ‘of course’. They absolutely adore each other even considering I was away for months and in hospital pretty much every single day.

Carey and Austin (Image: Naomi Austin)

“You can’t ask for any more than your child’s life, but he has actually come out of it pretty unscathed. He’s running around like a normal toddler now.”

Naomi told how she and husband Simon, also 44, were rushed to the Royal Alexandra children’s hospital and then the Great Ormond Street Hospital as Carey was diagnosed and put through a brutal treatment regime.

Due to how rare JMML is, doctors told Carey’s parents that there was no set treatment plan for their son and that he would need the strongest treatment possible in order to survive.

Following rounds of treatment, Carey and his parents have since had the news that the cancer is in remission.

Naomi thanked all the staff that helped Carey at the Royal Alex. Since then, the family have been fundraising for research into children’s cancers so that other children do not need to face treatments as harsh as their son’s.

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Fundraising included a children’s parkrun at Preston Park which was led by Aubrey's reception teacher at Balfour Primary School, Natasha Paling.

Natasha, 47, helped scores of children warm up for the event before also running the distance in a bumblebee outfit, matching the name of the class.

Described as “an angel”  by Naomi, Natasha said: “I’m not a runner by any means but I did a little bit of training and it was good fun.

Natasha helping children warm up before the run (Image: Naomi Austin)

“I loved my outfit and the children absolutely loved it. We have a strong sense of community at Balfour and will always do everything we can to support the children and their families.”

Over 100 extra children ran the race on Sunday, May 21, to help raise money for the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group.

So far, the family has raised nearly £45,000 over numerous fundraising events, with more planned in the near future.