You can help children like Jake have a family Xmas

Final chance to dig deep for CLIC Sargent

NEARING the end of a harrowing three-year cancer battle, the last thing the Rees family needed was to have Christmas taken away too.

But thanks to the incredible CLIC Sargent Home From Home scheme, 13-year-old Jake was able to open his gifts and enjoy dinner with his family on December 25 last year.

And all despite being on an isolation ward more than 160 miles from home.

Jake’s mum Kathryn told us: “Cancer crushes a family in a way you only understand if you’ve lived it. Without a Home From Home just minutes from Jake’s bedside, I don’t know how we’d have coped.

“Christmas was kept special… we will be eternally grateful.”

Diagnosed with leukaemia in

2016 aged just 11, Jake relapsed in August last year and needed a life-saving stem cell transplant.

His younger brother Daniel was a perfect match – but the intensive radiotherapy, transplant and recovery process gave no hope of Christmas at home.

From their home in Holywell

Bay, Cornwall, it was a six-hour round trip to Bristol Children’s Hospital. Kathryn, 44, said: “We simply couldn’t afford to rent a flat in Bristol for the five months we needed to be there.

“Anyway, the family room we had at CLIC House was so much more than basic accommodation. The facilities were impeccable, with communal areas to share stories with other families.

“And it was just a stone’s throw from the hospital. We even had a big Christmas party there, with presents put under the tree for all of us. The thought and care we got was simply incredible.”

Jake had his transplant on December 14 and was in isolation for weeks after because his immune system was so low. But Kathryn and her parents were able to have Christmas dinner in the room with him, as carols were sung outside.

Kathryn said: “For us to be so close by meant what would have been a stressful time was actually rather special.

“As a parent you want to be strong for your child. If you’re tired or too immersed in it, you simply can’t do that. We also met other families with children going through similar journeys, and sharing stories really helped us all cope.”

With Jake now well, this Christmas was extra special for the family.

Kathryn said: “We have had a lovely family Christmas at home. We are very thankful that we are all able to be together as things could have been very different.

“We urge Sunday Mirror readers to dig deep to help. Families like ours will forever be in debt to the charity for its help in our darkest hour.”

FAMILY MEAL With his grandparents on Christmas Day LIFESAVER Jake, before his op, with Daniel and his family FIGHTER Jake needed a stem cell transplant after suffering relapse