Heartbreak after schoolboy's 'sickness bug' turned out to be something horrific

When little Benedict Waters didn’t get better after coming down with a sickness bug, his family just knew something was wrong.

The six-year-old, known as Benny, had just gone back to school after the summer holidays when his parents Anna and Richard received a call to say he had been sick.

But when the youngster was still feeling poorly a week later, the pair feared his illness was something serious, prompting them to take him to a GP.

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Initial examinations didn't flag up anything of concern so Benny, from Chester, was referred to the Countess of Chester Hospital for tests. A few days later, the family were given the devastating news he had cancer.

Benny was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) - a type of blood cancer - in September 2022. He was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool where he started intensive treatment immediately.

Explaining what led the family to take Benny to their GP, Anna said: “He was so up and down we just knew something was wrong. One day he had a temperature, then the next he’d be back at school and at a party.

"Then the day after that, he’d not be able to get off the sofa again. I remember coming back from a run one morning and looking at him and thinking his skin didn’t look the right colour, it’s hard to explain, almost like his blood wasn’t working properly.

"After he was diagnosed, it all happened so fast. He started treatment the next day. But I can’t tell you how amazing he’s been with it all.

"He knew more about it than us to begin with because