A FAMILY from Bournemouth whose son was given a five per cent chance of survival has thanked NHS staff at Poole Hospital for helping save his life 19 years ago.

After her eight-month-old son Dimitris was diagnosed with a very rare form of blood cancer, Julie Arnaoutis felt like the world had fallen out from underneath her.

Three months earlier Julie had taken her son Dimitris to the doctor after he picked up a fever and cough.

He went for blood tests, saw more doctors and nurses before a consultant at Poole Hospital told her he may have leukaemia and that they should go to Southampton Children’s Hospital straight away.

“You can’t digest it, you’re just in pieces,” said Julie, who is sharing her story as part of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, which runs through the month of September.

“They’re showing you around the ward – ‘there’s the fridge, here’s a cupboard in the kitchen where you can put some stuff in’ - and I’m thinking, ‘Why would I want to put stuff in the kitchen? I’m not staying here.’

“You’re in denial, you literally can’t compute it.”

Bournemouth Echo: Baby Dimitris with his mum Julie

Julie was working at Barclays head office on the IT Service desk when she received the call asking her to take Dimitris to Southampton Hospital.

She added: “When you’re in that situation, it’s almost surreal. You’re thinking, ‘This can’t be my life, this can’t be happening. It’s terrifying, absolutely terrifying.”

Dimitris spent his first birthday in hospital and because he was at risk of infection, his two older sisters, Meara and Eleni, were unable to join their mum and dad.

Julie didn’t see her daughters for about four months as she shielded her son from any infections.

Her family experienced the euphoria of hearing that Dimitris didn’t have leukaemia, only to find out later the crushing news that he had a much rarer type of blood cancer, HLH (Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis).

His chances of surviving the transplant operation were about five per cent.

The bone marrow transplant unit based at Bristol Children’s Hospital, nearly 80 miles away from the family home in Bournemouth.

Julie said: “When they said we’ve got to be in Bristol we were, like, ‘How is that going to work?

“I’d been off work for six months by now, my husband’s not working at all and you’re thinking, ‘How are we going to do this?’ I couldn’t afford to have a mortgage on a house and go and rent somewhere. I was thinking of pitching a tent.”

That’s when Julie met a Young Lives vs Cancer social worker who told her about Sam’s House, one of the charity’s 10 Homes from Home providing a free place for families to stay when their child is going through cancer treatment.

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“When I heard about the Home from Home, I cried,” Julie added. “I broke down because it’s relief, it’s pure relief.

“My social worker was amazing - there’s somebody who’s stepped forward like your knight in shining armour. They are there to take a chunk of pain away from you and to allow you to concentrate on the critical thing, which is your child.

“When you’re in that situation, suddenly you have no money coming in, that is a strain in itself, so to not have to worry about paying for accommodation was huge. I dread to think what would have happened if we couldn’t have stayed in the Home from Home.

“I don’t know how we would have managed; it is a complete life-saver. It can make the difference between coping and not coping.”

The bone marrow transplant was a success and although it was touch and go for a while, Dimitris defied the odds and he slowly recovered from the blood cancer.

Now, Dimitris is back in Bristol but this time it’s not for an operation - he’s in his first year studying Architecture at Bristol University.