Rory Harty: Family share heartbreak after baby son's leukaemia was mistaken for outgrowing his nappies

Parents of a baby boy who died following a battle with leukaemia have spoken of their heartbreak after they mistook his growing belly for the child outgrowing his nappies. Rory Harty was only two-years-old when he was diagnosed with the fatal illness, and died only 12 weeks after his heartbroken parents, Rachael and Andrew from Chorley, received the news of his diagnosis.

The couple told Manchester Evening News that the first sign that something wasn’t right with their son was when his normal nappies no longer fitting before he became blocked-up and developed a cough. Once they took Rory to the GP they were sent away with a diagnosis for bronchitis, but the parents become even more concerned when they noticed his belly had swollen even more and he appeared very fatigued.

They took the tot to A&E, where Rory’s condition worsened to the point doctors put him on a nebuliser due to his oxygen levels dropping. At this point, medics still believed that Rory was suffering from a chest infection, but it wasn't until one doctor spotted the swollen belly and instructed the family that they would need urgent surgery to remove fluid from his lungs that Rachael knew it was serious.

She told MEN: “A few days after [his initial appointment], he hadn’t really got any better,” she said. “He had an afternoon nap and he was normally really good after his nap; he had a routine. He would get his dummy off the fireplace, go lie on the settee then he would play with his big brother.

“But one day, he just lay there with his dummy in and he wouldn’t move. He just looked at me. I noticed his belly was sucking into his ribs; I had never seen his belly move like that before. The symptoms are so easily put down to child development – all kids get coughs and colds and all kids’ bellies grow a bit.”

She added: “When the consultant came in, the nurse came in and I saw her Macmillan badge...at this point, I didn’t really know what oncology meant, but I knew what Macmillan were. I had this gut-niggling feeling that I couldn’t shift – that I knew it was something worse than we thought it might have been.”

Rory’s care team worked to get the t-cell acute leukaemia under control with a six-week course of chemotherapy, but only twelve weeks after his diagnosis he passed away. The family were supported by Chorley children's hospice Derian House.

In memory of their son, the family have launched ‘Rory’s Tiger Box’ to help families who are spending time in hospices and treatments centres, away from home. A ‘Dino Box’ was also created to give to all independent funeral homes in Chorley.

Rachael said: “We know how incredible our little boy was, he fills us with pride every second of the day – both our boys do. Rory’s Box is a way of him living on and showing the world the superstar that he always will be. Rory was only with us physically for two years, the reason our hearts are forever broken, but he will do more good in his life and help more people in his life than most people ever will.”