‘I found out my son had cancer while pregnant and now he’s facing his biggest battle yet’

“He’s taken on this battle with courage, determination and a maturity far beyond his years.”

Learning your child has cancer is every parent’s worst nightmare but for one Co Down mum, she had to deal with the devastating diagnosis while expecting her fourth child.

Zac Fletcher is just nine years old and this week he should be preparing to start P5 at Cedar Integrated Primary School, Crossgar. Instead he’s currently in hospital facing the toughest challenge of his young life, battling Stage 4 Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Zac is the eldest son of Kerry Fletcher and Oran and a proud big brother to six-year-old Rory; Harris, aged 4 and baby Charlie, who was only born on August 13.

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“Zac has taken on this battle with courage, determination and a maturity far beyond his years,” mum Kerry told Belfast Live. “We got the diagnosis at the end of May and to be honest since then it’s just been like survival mode so I don’t know if I have processed it yet. Your emotions block out a wee bit and you’re like, ‘right, OK, just get on with it’. I think I’m still a bit in that sort of survival mode because we’re very much living it day to day now, and so much can change nearly in a day.”

The first signs that something was wrong came back in May, when Zac started to experience a sharp nerve pain at the base of his spine as Kerry explained: “It all really only started two weeks prior to when I brought him into hospital. He’d been having this pain that flared up at night in his lower back, and it was almost like a nerve pain.

“We didn’t know what it was and we were like ‘did you fall in school?’ and he said he did fall playing football so we thought maybe it was like a chipped tailbone or something along those lines. I brought him up to the A&E at the Royal on Sunday, May 25. I purposely waited until the evening time because that’s when the pain tended to flare up and it was really hard to describe what was going on.

“He was in agony and I was waking up from his sleep because he was screaming. I was giving him Calpol, Nurofen and everything but it wasn’t touching the sides for the amount of pain Zac was in. As it transpired, it was this tumour growing in him.

“It started off around his kidney and went right down into his pelvis, but it was pressing on the nerves so when he lay down at night, it was giving him this intense nerve pain. He was brought into hospital where the investigations started and the doctors did an ultrasound and then an MRI.

“I naively thought we would be handed antibiotics and sent home after a night or two as cancer was not on my radar whatsoever. The next day the MRI results came back and we were called into a room with the Hematology Consultant to be told our son had Non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Apart from that nerve pain, there were no other symptoms whatsoever which is even more frightening and I sort of wondered, ‘could I have picked this up sooner?'”

By the following Thursday, Zac was in surgery having a central line fitted along with biopsies and lumbar punctures and the next day, he started chemotherapy. Since then Zac has spent most of the past few weeks an inpatient in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.

Kerry added: “His cancer is a very aggressive form and it basically means he’s been inpatient pretty much the whole time, only getting home for very small windows of maybe two or three nights here and there and we’re looking at probably up to seven months of treatment.

“I know the Children’s Cancer Unit has been in the headlines lately due to staffing issues but we have had such a good experience with all the staff who have been absolutely amazing. The Hematology Ward at the Children’s RVH is a world you don’t even know exists until you are living in it. Throughout our journey, from A&E to The Barbour Ward, Hematology and Oncology and all the various scans in between, I honestly can say that the treatment we’ve had has been unbelievable.”

Zac’s family say one of the greatest sources of strength has been his deep love of sport. Whether he’s playing rugby with Ballynahinch RFC, sailing at Quoile Yacht Club, or out on the golf course, they say Zac throws himself into life with heart, energy and unstoppable spirit.

Kerry added: “Watching his sporting heroes dig deep and never giving up has reminded Zac (and all of us) what real resilience looks like. That same fighting spirit has seen him face chemotherapy, surgery, hospital stays and countless tough days head-on. As he continues his treatment Zac is determined to rebuild his strength and get back out on the pitch, lough and course where he truly belongs.”

But despite all he’s going through now, Zac wants to give back and his family have created an online fundraiser to support the many charities who have supported him and who continue to do the same for so many other children and families.

And having only been set up a matter of days ago, it’s close to smashing the £15,000 target. The total amount raised will be divided amongst the following charities: The Children’s Cancer Unit, Young Lives vs Cancer, ⁠Angel Wishes, ⁠B Positive, ⁠Powered by Poppy, ⁠Cancer Fund for Children, ⁠Love Amy and Macmillan Cancer Support.

Kerry added: “Throughout this journey, we’ve been carried by an incredible wave of love from family, friends, and even total strangers. We’ve also been lifted by the incredible charities that support families like ours through every stage of a childhood cancer diagnosis. These organisations have brought light, comfort, and hope when we needed it most.

“Every donation, big or small, will be divided between these amazing organisations, helping them continue the work that is vital for patients and families going through cancer. This is Zac’s way of saying thank you for the care, kindness, and strength he’s received. And from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for helping turn this difficult journey into something meaningful, not just for Zac, but for countless other families who need that same support.”

Donations to the family’s GoFundMe ‘Zac Gives Back’ campaign can be made here.

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