WHEN little Bailey Kilblane started to suffer flu-like symptoms, his mum Beth Reilly knew something wasn't right.

Alongside this, her baby boy had developed mystery bruises, so the worried mum took him to the GP.

Mum Beth said her boy was "so happy and smiley" and that GPs said there was nothing wrong with him six times.

But when the 23-year-old took him to hospital, things took a sinister turn.

It was at Arrowe Park Hospital on the Wirral, that Beth claims doctors accused her of abusing her son.

But a blood test eventually confirmed Bailey was suffering from leukaemia – cancer of the white blood cells.

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Beth says that she hopes her experience will encourage people to press doctors for tests.

Beth, from Wallasey, Merseyside, said: "People always just say that you know when your child is not right, and just at that moment that week I felt that.

"He was smiling, but I could just tell that there was something not right – you'd just look at him and he would look right through you back.

"If you're worried, you need to press them to get tests done. I still often think back to the experience and it was horrible to be questioned about abusing your own child – but I know that they needed to do it."

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She added that it made her feel 'bad' and 'uncomfortable', but Beth knew that she had done no harm to her son, now 16 months.

"What abusive mother would take her child to the hospital six times in a week anyway.

"Bailey is still very happy, but it's just tough on him – and you can see that. We're still a bit in denial that he's actually ill and it's already been months.

"He's definitely been knocked a bit, he's exhausted. He struggles to eat, so he's now fed mostly through a feeding tube – it's just not the normality we're used to," she added.

What are the symptoms of leukaemia you need to know?

There are no specific signs or symptoms which would allow for a doctor to make a diagnosis without lab tests.

In all types of leukaemia symptoms are more commonly caused by a lack of normal blood cells than by the presence of abnormal white cells.

As the bone marrow becomes full of leukaemia cells, it is unable to produce the large numbers of normal blood cells which the body needs.

This can lead to:

• Anaemia
• Weakness and tiredness
• More frequent infections
• Fever
• Bleeding and bruising

Source: NHS

After Bailey developed bruises that didn't heal after three weeks, the mum and her partner Brandon, 23, took him to the doctors.

First, they said it was probably due to Bailey learning to walk, but Beth continued to make appointments until the family were referred to the hospital.

Eventually on Bailey's second check up at Arrowe Park Hospital, doctors agreed to ease her worries by performing a blood test.

Just hours later doctors returned with the "devastating" news Bailey had lymphoblastic leukaemia – a rare form of cancer that affects around 790 people a year in the UK.

She said: "We spent his first birthday in hospital – which was probably the worst part.

"He was due to start chemo, and sadly he just got sick at the time, and we had to stay in.

"I think what concerned me most at first was that he became very anaemic. He was very tired, cold, and falling over a lot."

In total, Beth said her little boy had around 18 bruises.

"Because I had no explanation for the bruises, when I was eventually referred to the hospital, I was questioned about it over and over by two nurses and a consultant together.

"It upset me, but I understood that they just needed to do it. They at first said that they were not worried and sent me home, but I later came back three more times.

"Eventually I said that I was not leaving unless they did a blood test, and they agreed to keep him in overnight and did tests that morning."

A few hours later, Beth said medics came back with their heads down, with a team of nurses and they were given the diagnosis of B cell lymphoblastic leukaemia.

TREATMENT PLAN

Now, Bailey has already had a bone marrow biopsy, three rounds of chemotherapy and is undergoing a spinal lumbar puncture every two weeks.

Beth added: "We've all found it tough because he was our first baby, and we were so excited about that.

"All of his young years that he should be spending having fun and being a child, he's now going to be going through treatment instead.

"It's sad because he had just joined nursery, and he loved it – but I've had to take him out now.

"There's many effects that the treatment could have on him, he'll be having heart scans for the rest of his life."

The family have now launched a GoFundMe page in order to help support Bailey's recovery.

So far they have raised over £5,000 of their £6,000 goal.

In a statement, a spokesperson at Wirral Teaching Hospital said: "While we are unable to comment on individual cases, to ensure patient confidentiality, we can confirm that the Trust has safeguarding procedures in place that follow national legislation for both adults and children.

"This ensures the safety of the patients in our care and may mean staff will ask further questions when determining the cause of an illness or injury.

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"We recognise that this can be distressing for parents, and so we ensure the utmost respect is given to them where any questions are raised."

"We hope that parents and carers will understand that it is a necessary and important aspect of our safeguarding responsibilities."

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