THE parents of a seven-year-old boy battling cancer for the fourth time are hoping to raise funds so he can receive treatment in America.

Julian Malankowski was first diagnosed with leukaemia when he was two years old.

He spent about a year in hospital undergoing chemotherapy before being allowed home for maintenance treatment and eventually being given the all-clear.

Mum Aneta, 29, who lives in the Shadsworth area of Blackburn, said: “He needed to learn to walk again because it damaged his bones but he was managing.

“He was always smiling. He looked like a normal child and his hair had started to grow back.

“My husband Maciej and I decided to change something and started talking about moving to the UK from Poland. We wanted to change everything that was bad.

“Julian had finished his treatment.

“He was four-years-old when we moved here and was happy and healthy and we were told there was a 95 per cent chance everything would be fine.

“He started school in Blackburn and I was crying with happiness when he started school. He was learning English so fast, making friends and he was so happy.

“But it was not to last because about six months after that we had a check up at the Manchester Children’s Hospital and they told us something was abnormal.”

The family was told the Intack Primary School pupil had relapsed.

He was given more chemotherapy and medics took a DNA sample from Julian’s brother Leon, three, to see if he could help with a bone marrow transplant but unfortunately he was not a match.

Eventually a donor was found and he had a transplant around Christmas 2014.

“After this nightmare we thought everything that was bad was behind us,” she said.

“My husband went back to work and Julian went back to school. He was well and like a normal child again.”

However tragedy struck again in September last year when he was rushed into hospital with a nose bleed.

He was transferred to Manchester Children’s Hospital and they were told as the bone marrow transplant had failed the first time it was unlikely it would work again.

“We could not believe it was happening again. We want to be a normal family. We thought, why is this happening to us again?”

Mrs Malankowska started researching on the internet and found a treatment called Car T Cells immunotherapy which had been trialled on a young girl in the USA.

Julian qualified for a trial in the UK and was the first child to have the treatment in Manchester which again seemed to have worked.

“We were the happiest parents in the world. I called all my family and thought everything was going in the right direction. All we wanted was for him to be healthy.

“We were going back for monthly check ups then one month ago they said there was some of the original leukaemia left in the bone marrow. I thought it was a mistake.

“We do not know how fast it is growing. We know it has come back and the one option right now is going to Washington DC to have CD22 Car T Cells immunotherapy treatment.”

The treatment will use different genes compared to the first T Cell treatment he was given in Manchester and the family is trying to raise around £50,000 to cover the costs of flights and what would be a three month stay.

“We have been told if we do not do anything he will relapse again and will have to have more chemotherapy.

“When he relapsed the second time he said ‘I know I am going to die’ and was asking what was going to happen to him. It broke my heart. He is too young to think like that.

“We try to keep together and say everything is going to be fine but actually we do not know what is going to happen.

“I try to distract my mind and not think about it but I still end up thinking about it all the time. My head is full of bad thoughts.”

Julian’s father Maciej, 29, a machine operator, said: “This feels like it is his last chance. The treatment is very promising. We have to believe everything will be fine.

“As parents we want to do everything and the worst thing is you can’t do anything to help your child. That is the worst thing. We are hoping to raise money so we can get this treatment and make him happy and healthy again.”

To donate visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/aneta-malankowska.

You can follow Julian’s progress on Facebook. Search Julian’s Story.