A seven-year-old boy who raised £21k for children’s brain tumour research said being greeted by Nottingham Forest players in our children's hospital was “the best feeling in the world.”
James Kerry, who has had to give up playing football since being diagnosed with cancer, high-fived his hero - midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White - after giving him a Christmas present.
James was one of many poorly youngsters thrilled to see the players, manager Nuno Espirito Santo, and players from Forest’s women’s team and netball team. Forest’s visit has become a hotly anticipated fixture on the festive calendar for our Trust.
The players were greeted with cheers and claps and handed out signed footballs, scarves, cuddly toys, and chocolate, as well as giving some staff pamper treats and signing shirts and memorabilia, bringing smiles to hundreds of patients, parents, and staff – not least James.
James became ill in March this year, with sickness and headaches. An MRI scan in April revealed he had metastatic medulloblastoma – a brain tumour that had spread to his spine. His diagnosis turned the family’s life upside down.
“We were told we needed to move quickly in terms of treatment,” said mum Katie. “Within days, James had a brain operation to debulk the tumour. A few days later he had an operation to fit an external drain from his head due to excess fluid and days later he had another operation to fit a shunt and remove the drain. The shunt moves excess fluid from his head to his stomach.”
James then started chemotherapy – “It was all very full-on,” said Katie. “He then had six weeks of radiotherapy, every weekday, and for the past four months, he’s been on a monthly cycle of high-dose chemotherapy.”
“He’s responded well to treatment, thankfully. James has been so brave and we are very proud of him.”
James will soon move onto maintenance chemotherapy, in oral form, which means he should get to spend more time at home with Katie, dad Paul, and four-year-old brother Freddie.
“James has been great – he’s the one who’s kept us all going and motivated, and he’s wanted to do positive things. He has been making and selling personalised bracelets and keyrings – 370 of them!
“He even sent keyrings to the King and Queen, and received a letter and a donation from Queen Camilla!”
“We spoke about research and how important it was to help children like James get better, and the money has been donated to the Childhood Brain Tumour Research Centre at Queen’s Medical Centre.
“We’ve looked around the lab and chatted with the researchers - it’s really nice for James to see something positive coming out of his diagnosis.”
James made bracelets for the Forest players after a visit to the training ground a few months ago.
“That’s when he got talking to Morgan – Morgan has been really supportive – he gave James a shirt signed by him saying ‘get well soon and stay strong’ and he gave him a pair of his football boots, signed, too.”
Before he became ill, James played football for Attenborough Colts and attended The Lanes Primary School. He now has one-to-one homeschooling two days a week.
Last week Morgan sent James a video message as a pick-me-up because he knew that James was back in hospital with an infection.
He saw his very first live match thanks to the Barrie Wells Trust, which arranges for poorly children to watch events from an executive box.
Katie and Paul have both been off work since James was diagnosed. She said: “The hospital is like our second home – we just deal with it one day at a time.”
The visit is part of Forest’s Home for Christmas campaign, led by club owner Evangelos Marinakis, and aims to celebrate the club’s connection to the community.