Rowan Pethard, the little 'superhero' who is battling leukaemia

The worst of the seven-year-old's treatment is over but he has more than two years of follow-up treatment ahead

(Joe Plimmer)

Like most little boys, Rowan Pethard loves playing football.

He's an avid Tottenham Hotspur fan and used to spend most of his time kicking a ball about or walking his grandmother's dog, Woody.

But at the start of 2015 the seven-year-old baffled his local doctors in Hemel Hempstead with a string of coughs, colds, tummy bugs, aches, pains and rashes.

"He wasn't a sickly child and one doctor even said he had scabies," says Abby, his mother. It was only when he collapsed outside his local GP in April and was rushed to GOSH that doctors discovered he actually had leukaemia.

He spent the next two days in intensive care while he had emergency chemo to reduce his white blood count.

The worst of his treatment is over but he still has more than two years of follow-up treatment ahead, which The Independent will track, to ensure the leukaemia is gone.

"He's amazing, a little superhero," his mum added. "It makes it easier for his father and I and his brother to cope."

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