Nearly all parents will know that raising young children is difficult. However, for most, having one of those children go through cancer is a challenge that may be simply unimaginable.

In December 2023, Shay and Liam’s world changed forever when their little boy Noah was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

In the turmoil, the family and their community have rallied together to fight for ‘Super Noah’, the little boy inspiring others to ‘do hard things’.

In October this year, Shay and Liam will be taking part in the Manchester Half, to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Noah’s mother Shay shared their story and how others can help beat cancer and support families with young children.

We’ve always called our son Noah our ‘wild child’: full of energy, adventurous, a sports lover, chatty and cheeky. At 5 years old, he loves what all little boys love; lego, trampolines, and his little sister Harper. But really, Noah is happiest when outdoors and moving – after all, he’s the child of two active South Africans who love the beach and anything outdoors.

Noah was born in Hong Kong and moved to the UK when he was 4. He adapted well, as most kids do, however towards the end of 2023 Noah started to experience sporadic leg pain. The GP told us that it was a muscle strain. However, it wasn’t until Noah woke up screaming and vomiting from pain that we knew something was seriously wrong.

After this incident, the doctor told us it was likely that Noah had a common bone infection and ran repeated tests including a MRI scan and a bone biopsy. The hospital asked my husband Liam and I how we’d like to receive the results and as we lived far away and had been reassured nothing more sinister was going on, we said that a phone call would be fine.

We’ll never forget that morning on 13th December. It was 11am. The nurse said, “I’m so sorry, we know you aren’t expecting this… but your son has acute lymphoblastic leukaemia”. How do you begin to describe what this does to you as a parent? At that moment, every cell in my body burst. Our world caved in. It felt like a dream – nothing seemed real.

After the initial shock, we then went into ‘fight mode’. We packed up everything, and Noah was admitted to Queens Medical Centre where treatment began immediately. The team was incredible. They reassured us from the very first phone call, ‘it’s ok, we’ve got you’ and they have supported us ever since.

As an intelligent child, Noah is aware of what is happening and diligent with his medication. For example, he has a hickman line (a soft, flexible tube that’s placed into a large vein, and exits out the chest. It’s used to give medicines, and take blood samples without the need for repeated needle sticks). Oncology children call these tubes the ‘wiggly’s’ and Noah is very careful to clean them and not allow them to get wet.

One of the most unspoken aspects of treatment is the steroids, which really affect Noah’s emotions and make our happy little boy want to hide away from the world. However, we still can’t be prouder of how he is handling the treatment. Through everything, Noah is strong for us when, as parents of a child with cancer, we are exhausted and scared. We call him our “Super Noah”, strong enough to defeat anything.

“If Noah can do hard things, so can we”. This is just one of our family mantras which keep us going. It has led to a series of physical challenges Liam and I (and great friends) are taking on this year, such as the Manchester Half where we will be raising money for Cancer Research UK. We are grateful for the groundbreaking research of this charity which offers new opportunities to find ways to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer.

The journey we’ve started is an emotional rollercoaster, but we are grateful for the support of our friends and family around us. We are lucky to be part of a generous community who offer their help and support. We also cannot emphasise enough how reaching out to the parents of a child with cancer can make a world of difference. – whether it be help with groceries, cleaning or an Amazon wish-list.

We’ve heard great things about the Manchester Half, especially with how incredible the support is. It will be our first half marathon in a long time, so we’re just going to enjoy the atmosphere and day out.

In the meantime, our little hero continues to fight and inspire those around him to get through whatever life throws up. He really is our Super Noah!