IN THE battle against leukaemia, you rarely hear doctors prescribing time with a stuffed duck. Yet, thanks to an appeal set up in the memory of a brave Merseyside boy, that’s exactly what will be on offer at Alder Hey’s Children’s Hospital.

Dozens of “Connor the Chemo Ducks” are due to be sent to Alder Hey after money raised in memory of Nathan Valentine was spent importing the special ducks.

Nathan died at the age of three, having battled leukaemia since he was 21 months old. In the months after his death, mother Mandy, of Hunts Cross, looked for a way to do something to help Alder Hey – and suddenly remembered Connor the Chemo Duck.

The Chemo Duck concept first came to Mandy’s attention when Nathan received one from a charity which imported it from America, where they are already a common feature on childrens’ wards.

They are designed to help explain to children what is going on, and to provide a constant friend for youngsters, who in turn can feel as though they aren’t the only ones undergoing treatment. Chemo Ducks come complete with the clothes a young child with cancer might wear in hospital, and some of the equipment the children will use when they are undergoing treatment, such as a chemotherapy port.

The charity which runs the scheme describes it as “positive therapy” for young people, helping to keep their spirits up while undergoing chemotherapy.

Mandy, who started last year’s Race for Life in aid of Cancer Research UK, said: “The Chemo Duck accompanied Nathan to Alder Hey and was there to support him through his lengthy stays.

“Nathan was the first child to bring one to Alder Hey and the staff thought it was a great idea.

“After Nathan died, we decided we wanted to give something back to the hospital, which Nathan had loved so much, by buying a box of Chemo Ducks.

“The Chemo Duck comes complete with its own central line, a bandana and a matching bandana for the child to wear. It was developed by a family in America, and the ducks are relatively expensive because they use real medical supplies and have to be sent from America.

“My aunt, Evie Chadwick, decided that she wanted donations to Nathan’s fund for her 60th rather than presents. Over £1,600 was raised, enough to buy 150 ducks, which will also go to Pendlebury in Manchester and Great Ormond Street.”

Nathan was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia when he was only 21 months old in 2003. Mandy says she is grateful the disease was slow spreading because it gave her, and Nathan’s sister Jessica, another 18 months with him.

Mandy said: “Nathan was oblivious to what was going on. Hospital visits and finger pricks became a part of his life and as familiar to him as his beloved Thomas the Tank engine trains and toy cars.

“In 2006, it became clear the leukaemia was starting to take hold and so a bone marrow transplant was planned.

“The decision wasn’t taken lightly as the risks were high and the prognosis still poor. In what seemed like no time at all, Nathan grew more and more ill, and by the time he had the transplant in October, he was very weak.

“But he fell in love with the nurses, and would wake up the ward in the morning singing nursery rhymes and amazing the doctors with his perfect patient routine.

“Nathan never complained, he never asked to go home because he loved and trusted the staff in the oncology department at Alder Hey. He took everything they could throw at him until he couldn’t take any more.”

An infection took over and Nathan died on November 21, 2006, two months short of his fourth birthday. Mandy added: “The response to our fundraising has been amazing. It means so much to me to be able to pay tribute to Nathan in a way which will bring a smile on other children’s faces and not concentrate so much on the heartbreak we feel from his loss.”

davidhiggerson