A FIVE-year-old boy who was struck down by cancer has astounded doctors by making a remarkable recovery.
It was thought Dean Puplett, from Mold, had come down with mumps when his mother Jane discovered a lump in his neck.
After rigorous tests he was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, or cancer of the nerve tissues, and given little chance of survival.
Fourteen months of gruelling treatment later and Dean has been given the all clear.
“You read it in the newspapers and you see it on the television but you never expect it to happen to you,” said Jane, 36.
“Illness and stress can pull a family apart but I’m proud to say my family are firmly together.
“Dean has made a phenomenal recovery.”
Dean was diagnosed in April 2010 when tests at Wrexham Maelor Hospital found two tumours in his body.
Further tests at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool revealed to Jane and husband Tony, 40, a large tumour in his tummy and a secondary tumour in his lymphatic system in his neck.
“I don’t think we could take the information on board,” said Jane.
“Then we were told he had a 20 per cent chance of survival and me and Tony just sucked all the air out of the room.
“It was such a scary time. So surreal.”
Dean underwent a 70-day course of intensive chemotherapy which rid his body of the secondary cancer and shrunk the large tumour in his tummy to the size of a golf ball.
An operation in September 2010 to remove the last of his tumour was successful.
Following this his stem cells were removed and frozen while a second six-day course chemotherapy killed the cancerous cells.
It was when these cells were transplanted back into his body that Dean developed a life-threatening liver disease.
“We went through a very hard time during the transplant,” said Jane.
“It was touch and go for a while. It was at this point doctors couldn’t make us any promises he would still be here.”
But Dean bounced back and underwent a further fortnight of radiation treatment at Clatterbridge Hospital in Merseyside followed by a course of immunotherapy to re-build his immune system.
He was given the all-clear in July but will be re-tested every three months for the next four years to ensure he remains cancer-free.
“I hope to God it stays that way because it’s such a stubborn cancer and notoriously hard to detect,” said Jane .
She said it was a positive attitude which helped to pull the family through.
For Christmas dinosaur-mad Dean, who wears two hearing aids after his hearing was damaged during treatment, enjoyed a trip to Lapland with his parents and sister Eve, six, courtesy of the Make A Wish Foundation.
The family has thanked the charity, staff at Alder Hey Hospital, Wrexham Maelor Hospital and the Wrexham-based Nicola’s Fund, who funded for a family trip to Center Parcs.
But it is to the community to which they are most grateful.
Jane said: “We had hot dinners left on our doorstep and prayer cards pushed through the letter box.
“It gave us such a boost. It is the little things that make a difference .
“Without their support we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
Dean has now returned full-time to Ysgol Glanrafon in Mold, where Eve is also a pupil.
“He’s a very energetic little boy,” added Jane.
“He goes at 100mph from the minute he wakes up to the minute he goes to sleep.”
Jane, originally from Preston, and Tony, originally from Somerset, lived in Chester and Ellesmere Port before settling in Mold.
The couple are due to open Flintshire Fitness Supplies in Mold later this month.