Boy diagnosed with rare cancer after doctors mistaken it with a cold for months

A four-year-old boy’s weeping eye, initially diagnosed as a cold, turns out to be a rare form of cancer.

Harri Cooke, from Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, has now undergone several rounds of chemotherapy following the correct diagnosis, as reported by Daily Mail.

It was last September when his mother Carly, 33, noticed he had a weeping eye. She initially assumed that her son was merely suffering from conjunctivitis.

Harri is now in remission, but his parents are worried about the impact of his treatment on his body.

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“Harri often had colds so at first I didn’t think much of his weeping eye,” she said. “The doctors agreed that it was likely to be this but as the weeks passed he was believed to have a blocked tear duct.”

TESTS REVEALED BAD NEWS

His face began to swell. In January this year, further tests confirmed that the boy has Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare type of bone cancer.

“Harri’s bone structure around his eye had changed, indicating the malicious mass that lay behind. His type was so rare - we were in complete shock. You never think it’s going to be your child,” Carly said.

Harry began undergoing proton beam therapy six days later. He wen through dozens of treatments in Florida, USA. He also had fourteen rounds of traditional chemotherapy.

Carly said it was equally painful for her to see his son go though so much pain. “It was so hard watching him go through it, it was like torture,” she said.

WORRIES OVER EFFECTS OF TREATMENT

Harri is now in remission, but his parents are worried about the impact of his treatment on his body.

“Harri’s treatments means that he could have growth issues, teeth problems and is more likely to have cancer later in life,” Carly said. “He’s had to have over 20 blood transfusions to try and save his life.”

But she takes comfort in how her son seems to remain positive. “Despite everything he was still smiling,” she said.