JEAN-CHRISTOPHE NOVELLI There’ve been nights when I have sat alone, crying, asking God why this has happened to my little boy and not to me
TELLY chef Jean-Christophe Novelli and his cancer-stricken baby son lock eyes on each other in a heartrending image that will touch every parent.
Little Valentino is just10 weeks old and is battling neuroblastoma – a rare cancer of the nervous system.
Hell’s Kitchen star Jean-Christophe, 55, and his fiancée Michelle, 40, have been shaken to the core.
And today, in a highly emotional interview, they reveal the heartbreak, the tears and ultimately the strength that they pray will help pull Valentino through.
The couple discovered the mite was ill just weeks ago and shared their devastating news on the same day singer Michael Bublé announced his three-year-old son Noah had been diagnosed with liver cancer.
Jean-Christophe, known for his fiery passion in the kitchen, has been reduced to tears by his son’s plight. He told the Sunday Mirror: “We found a lump in Valentino’s neck and we both went to pieces.
“There have been nights when I have sat alone, crying, asking God why this has happened to my little boy and not to me. I wish I could change places with him.
“Valentino is so tiny. You feel utterly helpless. My heart goes out to the Bublés and any other family facing cancer.”
Jean-Christophe and Michelle found the lump on Valentino’s neck on October 23.
Within days, it had doubled in size. Michelle was left hysterical when her son almost stopped breathing during the MRI scan which revealed it was cancerous.
Days later, surgeons told her they were unable to remove the tumour completely because it was so close to Valentino’s windpipe and twisted in and around vital nerves.
HOPE
But late last week, the couple were given a ray of hope when doctors at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge told them they were confident they could treat Valentino successfully with chemotherapy.
Tearful Michelle said: “I used to be scared of my children being snatched. It never occurred to me that they could get cancer.
“I haven’t asked what Valentino’s chances of survival are... I don’t want to consider that there is even a small chance he’ll die.
“These last few weeks have changed us. Being on a children’s cancer ward has made me realise we’re actually lucky because we have some hope. Others aren’t so fortunate. We count our blessings every day.”
The couple, who also have sons Jean, eight, and Jacques, four, were on cloud nine when Michelle fell pregnant with Valentino.
She told Jean-Christophe – also dad to Christina, 29, from a previous relationship – her pregnancy test was positive by leaving a pair of baby booties on his computer.
He said: “I was so excited my head almost hit the ceiling when I jumped up.”
When Valentino arrived in September, everything appeared to be perfect. But terror and panic struck when Michelle noticed the bulge on Valentino’s neck as she was feeding him at midnight at the family home in Hertfordshire.
She said: “Instantly, I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was rock hard. Jean touched it. We started panicking.”
They went to A&E the next morning. The next few days passed in a haze of tests as the couple desperately tried to hold it together for their other children. Michelle said: “The MRI scan was awful. Val e n t i n o w a s choking and his chest was rising and falling as if he was being repeatedly punched. Jean was with our older boys doing the school run so I was alone and I became hysterical. It seemed like an eternity before they got him under control again and I was on the phone to Jean- Christophe in tears. But I think Valentino sensed something was wrong. Seeing me upset seemed to make him cry, too. That’s when I knew I had to be strong. It’s so hard but I’ve barely shed another tear since.”
Doctors had to operate immediately as the tumour would obstruct Valentino’s airway if it grew. The surgeons were trying to get the entire tumour out but it proved impossible without risking serious harm.
Michelle collapsed in shock at the news. She went on: “Once in intensive care, I had a really surreal experience. I could feel someone behind me and hear someone calling my name but there was no one there.
“Several people close to me have died and part of me wonders if one of them was looking out for us that day.”
The couple stayed with their son until test results came back days later.
Michelle said: “Being in the children’s cancer ward was just so humbling. The whole team was absolutely amazing and I’m in awe of the work they do. At night, you’d hear children cry out in pain – no one should have to go through that – but they
Every day more sick children appeared as yet more families faced the same hell as us... JEAN-CHRISTOPHE TELLY CHEF ON GRIM WAIT IN HOSPITAL