‘If Mason’s story can save a child’s life, I did my part’, says mother who thought her son’s snoring was a ‘chest cough’

A mother who thought her son’s snoring was caused by a cough he picked up at nursery was horrified when she discovered he had leukemia.

Ellie Keating noticed her two-year-old son Mason started snoring as he battled a cough, fever and night sweats.

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The worried mother took him to the GP four times in three months, but when Mason started vomiting, became sensitive to light and couldn’t stand, she called 111, who sent an ambulance.

After three trips to hospital, the 29-year-old was stunned when Mason was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia – just like Emmerdale’s tragic cancer story for baby Evan.

Mason was immediately placed in a coma while on dialysis.

After emerging from the coma, Mason began a four-week course of intense chemotherapy and steroid treatment, but did not go into remission and sadly died a week later.

Now Ellie is sharing Mason’s story to highlight the symptoms and urge parents who have any concerns to seek medical help – praising Emmerdale for addressing the issue in its latest storyline.

The ITV soap is covering the heartbreak Billy and Dawn Fletcher encounter when their son Evan is diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Ellie, from Bridport, Dorset, said: “One of the main concerns for me was this cough, it was really bad.

“It started making him snore at night and he had never snored before.

“The cancer diagnosis hadn’t even crossed my mind as a possibility, I didn’t know the symptoms.

Suddenly it was just four big breaths and he was gone

Ellie Keating

“When they told me Mason had cancer, the noise I made didn’t even seem human.

“I was crying and screaming. [Then] when I was starting to wrap my head around the fact that he had cancer, I was hit with ‘he’s going to die’.

“I didn’t have the opportunity to research alternative therapies, I didn’t have time.”

Little Mason’s end came painfully soon after.

“[On the day he died] there was no warning,” Ellie said.

“We were doing handprints and footprints with the two nurses and I was showing videos of him, then all of a sudden it was just four deep breaths and he was gone.

“The nurse grabbed me because I was going to the floor. She grabbed me and held me and we were all crying in that room.”

‘DIDNT FEEL RIGHT’ SYMPTOMS

Mason, ‘obsessed’ with Bean, began experiencing cold-like symptoms in December 2019.

After several doctor appointments between January and March 2020, Ellie called 111 when her symptoms worsened.

A chest X-ray and blood tests at Southampton Hospital in March revealed he had leukemia.

Ellie, who is also mum to three-year-old Blake Ollis, said: “Apart from the odd childhood illness or illness, he has always been fine.

The touching story of Emmerdale’s baby Evan

A DEVASTATING new storyline in Emmerdale sees Billy and Dawn Fletcher face “every parent’s worst nightmare”.

The ITV soap covered the couple’s heartbreak after their son Evan was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

The episodes were produced with the support of the charity Leukemia Care, who worked closely with the Emmerdale production team on the storyline to ensure realistic and authentic representation.

Colin Dyer, CEO of Leukemia Care said: “Every year 10,000 people are diagnosed with leukemia in the UK.

“Baby Evan’s story featured in Emmerdale is helping to convey a really important message not just about raising awareness of the symptoms and the illness, but how it affects the family and those around them.”

Actress Olivia Bromley, who plays Dawn, said: “This is an incredibly challenging and moving story, but it is a very important story for Emmerdale to tell.

“I have learned a lot since working with Leukemia Care and speaking to parents whose children have been diagnosed, and we want to not only raise awareness but also do justice to the experience of families who are surprised by a diagnosis like this.”

The story begins when Dawn sees a new bruise on baby Evan’s leg.

Dr. Liam recommends taking Evan straight to the emergency room, where a pediatrician will examine him, do blood work, and perform an urgent bone marrow biopsy.

But the next day, the doctor confirms that Evan has a form of leukemia.

Read more about the plot here.

“The cold symptoms started around Christmas 2019. He hadn’t been at daycare very long, so in the early stages I just chalked it up to ‘it’s winter, he’s got a cold’.

“But as more symptoms came into the mix, it just didn’t seem right that this was a typical viral infection.

“He was vomiting and his poop looked like he had swallowed tobacco, it was very small.

When I went back to that room and saw him all hooked up to the machines and the tubes in his mouth, he looked so small. I just felt like there was nothing I could do

Ellie Keating

“He also had night sweats. I would go in and he was very cold, but he was sweating.

“He wasn’t eating, he was eating very well and he wasn’t drinking, which meant no wet nappies.

“I know that’s the number one alarm when a child doesn’t have a wet diaper.”

A DEVASTATING DIAGNOSIS

During a hospital visit in March 2020, Ellie received the devastating news that Mason had leukemia.

Ellie said: “At Southampton Hospital I met his consultant and that’s when they told me how bad [it was] and hope he doesn’t survive the night.”

“He was immediately put into a coma. The consultant explained to me that 97 percent of his blood cells were cancerous and it is the highest white blood cell count she has ever seen in a patient.

“When I went back into that room and saw him all hooked up to the machines and the tubes in his mouth, he looked so small.

“As a mother, your first instinct is to help and protect your children. I felt like there was nothing I could do.”

He loved life. Every day was an adventure, he was very cheeky and everyone loved him

Ellie Keating

Despite treatment, Mason did not go into remission and all of his symptoms returned – with surprised doctors saying they had never seen anything like it before.

Ellie says she was told they could try another week of intense chemotherapy and then full-body radiation treatment, but that it would likely cause severe brain damage.

The other option was to switch to palliative care.

Ellie said: “The consultant explained that although Mason was a few cancer cells away from going into remission, it had all come back.

“She said she had never seen anything like it before, only one case reported in the UK and that was in the 1990s.”

A LITTLE ‘SMART’ THAT LIGHTED UP A ROOM

Ellie and Mason moved into a self-contained apartment in the hospital’s children’s ward and remained there for a week until the little one’s death on July 23, 2020.

Ellie said: “He loved life. Every day was an adventure, he was very cheeky and everyone loved him.

“He was so smart and – as cliché as it sounds – he lit up a room.

“He was obsessed with Mr. Bean. When he was in that little apartment at the end, that was all he repeated on TV. He ended up quoting it word for word.

“He loved animals and had such a kind little heart. If I was upset for whatever reason he came, he would give me his sheep. [toy] and he would stroke my arm and say ‘don’t cry, mommy’.

“He was so selfless he always thought about other people – and he was only two years old.”

The mother, who found out she was expecting another baby, Blake, the night before Mason’s funeral.

Stay strong and trust your instinct, because early diagnosis can save lives. I couldn’t save Mason, but if I could save a child’s life, I did my part

She’s now speaking out about her experience so parents know what signs to look out for and check for.

Ellie said: “[By sharing Mason’s story] I hope this raises awareness of the symptoms and encourages people to get tested.

“When I see things like this or read magazines and people’s stories I always think ‘that won’t happen to me’. I think that’s how a lot of people think, especially with childhood cancer.

“Until it happens to you, it will never cross your mind and I think that needs to change.”

The mum praised Emmerdale for raising awareness about leukemia.

“I think it’s absolutely brilliant that Emmerdale is touching on this, because I don’t know of any other soap that has brought so much awareness,” she said.

“We’ve seen stories of cancer in adults, but to see this I think it’s too big.”

Ellie had some more advice to share with parents whose children experience worrying symptoms like Mason’s.

“My message to parents would be to stay 100% firm and trust your instincts because early diagnosis can save lives.

“I couldn’t save Mason, but if I could save a child’s life, I did my part.”

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