Family dreaming of fresh start after year of leukaemia hell

Thursday 16 August 2012

THE Ferguson family's nightmare began a year ago today when their youngest son Ryan was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at the age of three.

DESPAIR: Ryan was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia last year. SWING OF THINGS: Ryan Ferguson with father Stuart and mother Paula at their home in East Kilbride. Picture: Martin Shields

Custom byline text:

Russell Leadbetter

At their lowest moments his parents probably feared the worst but within a few months there was a nationwide appeal for a bone marrow donor, which recruited in excess of 1000 new donors to the register of the Anthony Nolan blood cancer charity, and numerous hospital visits for the East Kilbride youngster and his parents.

A stem cell donor was eventually found and a successful transplant carried out. Today, a year after the diagnosis, Ryan, now four, is thriving, and also attending nursery school.Looking ahead, his family are also considering emigrating to Australia.Ryan's father Stuart, 37, said: "He is doing brilliantly. His hair is growing back in, the tubes have all come out. He's eating well. He is just doing stuff a normal wee boy does."When he turned four at the end of June we had a big party for him in the house and put up a big marquee. "We really celebrated the birthday because for a long time we didn't know if we would be able to celebrate it. Ryan has started nursery now, and he went back there yesterday."The nursery is at Heathery Knowe Primary School in East Kilbride. Ryan had originally been due to start there last August but this had to be postponed as he had to undergo repeated chemotherapy after being diagnosed.Mr Ferguson, a self-employed joiner, said: "We don't know where the last year has gone, to be honest. It has been an absolute rollercoaster for us."It was a real shock at the start and you wonder how you are going to get through this. But I'm a real believer in the attitude that you have got sometimes to stand up to it and say, 'I'm going to be positive and I'm going to beat this, and we are going to get through this'. That is what we did. We have been positive all the way and we have got there in the end. We've always been the kind of people who, if we have a goal, we will try to achieve it."Mr Ferguson recently raised £20,000 as a thank you to the Schiehallion ward at Yorkhill Hospital in Glasgow where Ryan was cared for. "We held a charity ball in Glasgow and were absolutely blown away by people's generosity," he said.He also ran the London Marathon earlier this year to raise £2670 for the Anthony Nolan charity which found a suitable donor for their son.The family, including Ryan's brothers Calum, 11, Andrew, nine, and mother Paula, 38, are now turning their attention to a longer-term goal – packing up and emigrating to Australia.Mr Ferguson said: "We were going to do it before Ryan was taken unwell. Our big plan is to emigrate next year, once Ryan is allowed to fly. He is not allowed to fly for a year."He added: "We are asking people to join the Anthony Nolan register. It only takes a few minutes to fill out the online form. They will receive a sample bottle and all they have to do is to spit into it. This could save someone's life, like Ryan's. If it wasn't for the register we might not have Ryan here today. We cannot thank them enough."l www.anthonynolan.org

Contextual targeting label:

Families

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

Family dreaming of fresh start after year of leukaemia hell

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED