Family of 'superhero' Peterborough five year old boy Elliott who died from rare form of cancer raise vital funds to help other youngsters fighting the disease

The loved ones of a five year old from Peterborough who died after a battle with cancer are keeping his legacy alive – by raising tens of thousands of pounds to help other youngsters facing their own fight.

In October 2019, Elliott Cantrell, from Eye, was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a rare form of cancer. One minute, the popular young lad was playing with his friends during the summer holidays, and the next, he was being blue-lighted to Addenbrookes Hospital.

His mum, Andrea Cantrell, said: “Although it could not be guaranteed, the doctors were confident they could cure Elliott. Unfortunately, the treatment plan had to be amended various times because it was not working properly.

“On 7 February 2020, Elliott was allowed home. It was also confirmed that he was finally cancer-free, and officially in remission. Sadly, this was short-lived.

“At the end of March, Elliott started to complain of eye pain and headaches. A scan showed the cancer had masked itself in his eye and spread to his brain – something it had never done before. Elliott was put into a coma-like state and further treatment started.

“On 21 April, Elliott lost his fight and sadly passed away.”

“We are so very proud of Elliott, he was an extremely unique character with a will to fight like any superhero."

Following the heartbreaking news Andrea's friend, Victoria Lenton, set up Elliott's Army, a Special Named Fund at Children's Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG), with full support from Andrea and Wesley, Elliott's dad. They initially hoped to raise a few hundred pounds – but now they have raised more than £30,000 to help other families whose youngsters are fighting a similar condition.

Andrea said: “Throughout our journey, I had said that I wanted a way to raise money that could go directly to ALCL, as it is so rare, and it was vital to me and my family that we help other people.

“After doing a lot of research, Victoria set up Elliott’s Army on our behalf. The money raised goes towards vital research to help find a cure against this awful disease.”

She continued: “ALCL is such a very rare cancer and needs all the support and funding it can get. For Elliott’s Army to be helping continue this fight is amazing.

“We are so very proud of Elliott, he was an extremely unique character with a will to fight like any superhero. If we can help in any way possible, we will, and will do it in Elliott’s memory.”

‘Cutting edge techniques in the lab’ being used

Now, together with other CCLG Special Named Funds, Elliott’s Army has been able to support new research into lymphoma.

Led by Professor Suzanne Turner at the University of Cambridge, alongside clinician scientist Dr Lucy Hare, the project will explore why some patients don’t respond to a new type of treatment and look at ways to make this treatment more effective.

The new treatment, tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), is gradually being introduced to treat children with ALCL. As it targets cancer cells specifically, it is hoped the new medicine will prove to be a safer treatment with fewer long-term side effects.

However, the treatment does not always work, and doctors are not sure why or how best to use TKIs to help cure children with lymphoma.

Prof Turner said: “This project will investigate a type of TKI called an ALK inhibitor, which is currently approved for use in adults and only in limited settings in children. We hope to learn how to best use these drugs so that children are cured of their cancer using the kindest therapies possible.

“We are excited to work on this project, as we look to use cutting-edge techniques in the lab to produce meaningful information that is directly translatable to patients in the clinic.”

“We are in awe of their dedication, enthusiasm and energy, raising funds for research whilst experiencing very difficult times."

Prof Turner added: “Without funding from the Special Named Funds, this research could not be conducted. We are so incredibly grateful for the support and help provided by the parents, families and friends of children with ALCL.

“We are in awe of their dedication, enthusiasm and energy, raising funds for research whilst experiencing very difficult times. We hope that we can repay them by conducting research that will benefit children diagnosed with ALCL in the future.”

With Elliott’s Army having raised over £30,000 since being set up, Andrea thanked the fund’s legion of supporters for helping to make the new research possible.

“Friends, family and even people we don’t know have donated and continue to donate any money they possibly can. Over the years we have run various events, Elliott’s local school run a ’superhero day’ around Elliott’s birthday yearly, and we have future events planned.

“The support throughout from our friends and family has been absolutely amazing. We definitely couldn’t have dealt with each day without them.”

Vicki Brunt, CCLG Head of Fundraising, said: “The dedication and drive of our Special Named Fund families and their supporters is crucial to helping us develop kinder treatments and improve outcomes for all children with cancer. We can’t thank them enough.”

For more information about CCLG, visit their website at https://specialnamedfunds.cclg.org.uk/