‘Unreal’ week as Charlie gets green light for vital op
NICK HUGHES
THE family of a fouryear-old cancer sufferer says the past week has been ‘unreal’ after a vital operation was confirmed.
Charlie Procter, from Church, celebrated his fourth birthday on Monday, April 24, where he received over 100 cards from well-wishers before his family learned that he will be having surgery on his liver this month that would make him ‘nearly cancer-free’.
Charlie, who has stagefour cancer, has also enjoyed leading out his beloved Accrington Stanley, as well as appearing on TV, leading to a surge in donations to fund treatment in America.
Charlie’s mum Amber Schofield, who has campaigned tirelessly to raise the £315,000 needed to send her son to Cincinnati, America, for treatment, says that the joy from the past week is ‘like everything has come at once’.
She said: “It’s been unreal. The phone call we had was late at night and I wasn’t going to answer because it wasn’t on caller I.D. It was a shock.
“The hospital in Birmingham have had a look and feel confident that they can do his liver. This is all thanks to the doctor in America, Dr Geller, who kept searching for help. They won’t operate on his lungs, but they will do his liver.”
The operation will remove 80-90 per cent of Charlie’s liver but means he won’t need a transplant, which is what his family was told eight months ago when he had a 20 per cent chance of survival.
In preparation for the procedure, Charlie’s chemotherapy will stop so that he is fully healthy.
Amber added: “It’s going to be strange waking up in the morning and not having to go to chemotherapy but it will start again afterwards.
“They’ve found three tumours on the healthy side of his liver which have come from nowhere, but the operation will increase his chances. It will also down the cost of going to America. It doesn’t feel real because once he’s had this, he’s basically nearly cancer-free. It’s still not sunk in yet.
“It’s like we’re expecting a phone call saying ‘we’ve had another look and we can’t do it’.”
Charlie also had a bumper weekend of football, leading out Blackburn Rovers and Stanley at their final homes games of the season.
Amber added: “He loves going and he goes in his kit so he feels like a player and they let him join in.” A MAN has been arrested after a car crashed following a police chase.
Police said a pursuit started on Blackburn Road in Great Harwood at around midnight on Thursday, April 27. The car crashed on its way to Rishton and ‘suspected drugs’ were later found in the vehicle. A police spokesman said: “The driver was remarkably uninjured.” The arrested man has been released under investigation pending further enquiries.