Kolbie keeps smiling through tough times

KOLBIE Kerr loves Spiderman, his bike and playing outside.

And he’s not about to let a diagnosis of leukaemia stop any of that.

The three-year-old from Annan was diagnosed on February 6 and is currently undergoing a tough course of treatment.

But his proud mum Ellie Henderson says he is a wee fighter and is still full of smiles.

Sharing the ups and downs of the last few months, she said: “We took Kolbie into DGRI one Sunday with a high temperature. They ruled out tonsillitis and we were sent home.

“We went back a few days later as his ear was weeping, and very painful. They told us he had an ear infection.

“But then they took one look at him in A&E and asked if he was always this pale - they knew straight away something wasn’t ok.

“They tried for hours and hours to get bloods out of him and eventually later on that afternoon we were told the blood tests had come back with either a suspicion of sepsis or leukaemia.”

So the family was sent up to Glasgow by ambulance the next day for more investigations, after which acute lymphoblastic leukaemia was confirmed.

Treatment is underway and Ellie said he’s had three blocks so far, adding: “He’s been on a fair few different kinds of chemotherapy, sometimes three different ones a week.

“This block’s a bit more aggressive but he’s taking it all in his stride.”

However, she admitted it’s been an emotional rollercoaster for everyone, saying: “The first month or two were the worst so far for us all, between his diagnosis, a long six weeks in Glasgow hospital, Kolbie catching norovirus and not eating, drinking, or walking- he couldn’t do anything.

“And then the not knowing what was to come and wondering if our wee boy would survive this horrible disease.”

However, she’s amazed at the strength he has shown, adding: “He’s done us all so proud, he’s never failed to fight on through the last four months.”

All the support from the community has also helped them through the dark days.

Last week we reported how the Freemasons had handed over a donation for Kolbie, but he’s also been the recipient of a new bike and Build-a-Bear from Seafoods in Annan.

Ellie’s older brother is doing a fundraiser run and will be shaving his head in July to raise money too.

She added: “I’m so grateful for how much kindness people have shown and how much they’re thinking of my wee boy.

“In hard times like this, people definitely pull together and I’ll never be able to thank everyone enough for absolutely everything they’ve done to help and support Kolbie, myself, my other two boys, and just our entire family as a whole.

“It’s amazing. It’s made the last few months that little bit easier: knowing how much Kolbie is in everyone’s thoughts and the lengths people are going to to help our family.”