THE parents of a seven-year-old leukaemia sufferer are pleading for more nursing help at home for the families of cancer sufferers.

Owen Tomlinson, from Wallasey, is having treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, and his parents have to take him to Alder Hey for chemotherapy.

They say, if they had nursing help at home, it would aid his recovery and they are supporting a campaign by charity CLIC Sargent to provide more specialist nurses.

The charity is trying to raise £5m so it can employ more nurses.

Owen’s father Rob, an auditor, even underwent training to provide some of Owen’s healthcare at home.

He said: “It’s a shame that there isn’t a CLIC Sargent specialist nurse in the area because it really would have cut down the amount of time that Owen had to spend in Alder Hey.

“I was eventually trained by staff at the hospital to flush Owen’s central line myself at home, but it would have been much nicer to have had a nurse come to do it.

“It was absolutely nerve wracking, especially at first, as the central line goes straight to Owen’s heart, so any mistake would have had serious consequences.

“CLIC Sargent nurses help to coordinate a child’s care, visit their school and carry out some treatment at their home.