Young Derby couple appeal for help after baby's one of a kind cancer diagnosis

The heartbroken family of a four-month-old baby, who has just been diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia, are appealing for help. Jade Calladine, 24, and 22-year-old dad Oliver Duffy both from Mackworth, Derby, want to be able to support their daughter Amayah throughout her treatment.

Jade first became concerned with Amayah in late September when she felt a lump on her head, after taking her to the hospital Doctors concluded the lump was just a cyst.

After weeks of appointments and hospital visits, doctors were unable to come to a conclusion as to what was wrong with Amayah, but Jade was noticing more lumps appearing.

It was only after Amayah started to drink less that she was admitted to Royal Derby Hospital, where doctors found that a rare form of leukaemia called AML had started to form in multiple places around her body.

Amayah was admitted to hospital on October 17, and despite doctors not knowing what specific condition she had at the time of admission, they had to act fast as her condition was deteriorating.

Jade said: "They told us that there was a possibility of her having three different types of cancer, Amayah's oncologist told us they would never normally treat a patient before a diagnosis but in this case she was too poorly to wait, as she could have died waiting for treatment. They can't see where the cancer is coming from.

"At the moment we are waiting for tests to come back to see what type of cancer Amayah has, but it can take 4-6 weeks. It's just awful, I am genuinely just at breaking point. We just want to be there for our little girl. It's just really really hard to see."

After Amayah's admission to hospital, the young couple were told that they were about to begin five months of treatment. Jade had initially been on maternity leave from her role as a health care assistant at Royal Derby Hospital, and her partner Oliver had managed to get statutory sick pay from his job as a fork lift operator.

As a result of the couple being out of work for the foreseeable future, they set up a gofundme page to allow them to pay the bills whilst Amayah underwent chemotherapy.

Jade said: "My partner works for a big company and they will only give him statutory sick pay, but he doesn't want to work whilst his daughter is in hospital, we still have bills to pay so we need the fundraiser whilst Amayah is poorly."

Since starting the fundraiser on Sunday, November 3, the couple have managed to raise £9,134 of their £15,000 goal at the time of writing.

Jade expressed her thanks at the support they have received so far, saying: "When me and my partner originally uploaded the fundraiser on Sunday we didn't expect to get anything really. When we saw the first £90 come in we were absolutely gobsmacked, people are really coming together to help us.

"I just want to say thank you so much to help everybody that has donated, because I can't thank you enough for the support. It means that me and my partner can be there for our little girl."

If you want to help support Jade, Oliver and Amayah you can find their gofundme link here.