Telford family amazed by £2,000 donations after Liam, 5, diagnosed with leukaemia

Now an appeal in honour of Liam Finazzi has raised more than £2,400, just weeks after he was found to have Burkett, a rare form of blood cancer.

The five-year-old from Malinslee, was diagnosed on December 18, only weeks after he celebrated his birthday on December 1.

He had been complaining of hip and back pain which had become worse and worse.

He had been scheduled to see his doctor just before Christmas.

But as the pain increased, his parents Andy and Kerry took him to their local doctors, where he was referred to the Princess Royal Hospital and initial tests showed he may have leukaemia.

He was then sent to Birmingham Children's Hospital, where he was found to have a rare form of the illness, which will require expert treatment from the specialists at the hospital.

His chemotherapy treatment began straight away, and the family, including his eight-year-old brother Callum, even spent Christmas Day on the ward.

Father Andy, who works as a sales manager for a magazine, said: "He has started chemotherapy which is very light.

"But now it will move into a more heavy form of treatment.

"Generally speaking, most types of leukaemia require treatment over about three-and-a-half years, but because the type is quite rare, he will need all of that treatment within about six months.

"It is really aggressive because they need to eradicate it the first time around.

"We absolutely never expected something like this to happen to us and our family, but of course it does."

Both boys attend John Fletcher of Madeley Primary School and mother Kerry works for Capgemini, so the family is firmly based in Telford.

But they will now have regular trips into Birmingham for Liam to continue his treatment.

Following his diagnosis, Kerry's sister, Becky, set up a fundraising page in a bid to raise money to help the family with their travel and parking costs going to and from the hospital.

Initially she had hoped to raise £300, but the family has, to date, received £2,237 from friends, relatives and even from complete strangers.

She said: "We know Liam will beat this; he's a very determined little boy."

And the family say they have been "overwhelmed" by the amount of people who have come forward to give donations or send well-wishes as they go through the difficult time.

Andy added: "It has been a very tough time, it's been a whirlwind. But we've been amazed from the donations we've received, from people we haven't spoken to for years.

"All the staff at the hospital have been wonderful and we have been amazed by their compassion and care.

"It restores your faith in humanity."

And little Liam has been doing well in the face of tough and intensive treatment.

Andy said: "Liam has been taking it in his stride.

"At the moment we are still in the early stages and we're going to have to see how it progresses but so far he is in good spirits.

"We'd just like to thank everyone for their support, not just financial but just generally the support we have received from family and friends."

To donate to the family, visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/rebecca-kendal