No child should have to wake up and battle an intense illness every single day, but 6-year-old Olly Brooke-Tucker has faced more than most.

When Bethany Tucker gave birth to a healthy baby boy in 2015, she was overjoyed and couldn’t wait to begin giving him the best life possible. As a child, they noticed that Olly picked up more infections than other children his age and he spent most of his time on antibiotics.

Despite this, he was a cheeky, happy young boy.

However, in June 2021 he fell extremely ill. With his temperatures rising rapidly and a lack of appetite, he was diagnosed with a viral lymph node infection at Tameside Hospital. He continued to seem very weak and so he was returned to the hospital and this time diagnosed with pneumonia.

Following a course of antibiotics that didn’t seem to do anything to improve his condition, he was taken to Manchester Children’s Hospital.

Here he was admitted instantly and administered antibiotics. The family were soon visited by an Oncology doctor who believed that Olly had a cancerous tumour in his lung.

“Waiting for that result were the hardest weeks of our lives. Once the results came back clear, we were back to square one and had no idea what was wrong,” mum, Bethany, said.

An immunology team then took on his case and after a few weeks of tests, it was found that Olly had Chronic granulomatous disease, an incredibly rare disease that impacts the immune system.

Difficult to diagnose, this disease means that while Olly was producing the right amount of white blood cells, not one of them were working to protect his body.

Now Olly was severely ill, covered in infections throughout his lungs, spleen, liver and kidneys.

Spending an extensive amount of time in hospital with months away from home, doctors decided that the best course of action was to carry out a bone marrow transplant.

Bethany was determined to take Olly and his sister Scarlett away for a short break before the treatment began, however Olly became ill once again, and they were thrown back into reality and awaiting a procedure.

Olly’s donor was a 19-year-old German lady who was studying to become a teacher. She was a perfect match, and the doctors had no concerns about his recovery process afterwards.

The family were discharged on 23rd December after spending 6 weeks on the bone marrow ward. Yet the excitement was short lived, as they were returned to the hospital on Boxing Day with Olly showing signs of infection.

As if he had not been through enough, Olly was found to be suffering from graft versus host disease. The new cells had alerted his other body cells as foreign and began to attack the body.

From here Olly was again in and out of hospital more times than anyone could imagine, suffering from infections, septic shock and a whole host of tests.

In February Olly was rushed into hospital. He wasn’t waking up, his temperatures had soared and his heart rate was incredibly high.

Epstein Barr virus was the newest diagnosis to add to Olly’s list and he was given treatment for both this and his original diagnosis.

The family remain in hospital and hope that a miracle comes their way to relieve Olly from the suffering he has faced so far in his young life. Olly’s superhero sister Scarlett has been so patient throughout all of the turmoil.

She spent her 10th birthday away from her parents and has never dropped her spirits, a little girl who has made her mum incredibly proud.

Both children have been incredible during times that most families can’t even begin to fathom. They are appealing for anyone who is able to, to help them along their journey by donating to their fundraising page.

You can access their page here. 

Olly’s story is an exceedingly sad one to read, but one that shines a light on the importance of hope and determination.

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