The family of a Newry teenager battling leukaemia, who just a few months ago rang the bell marking the end of his treatment, have told of how he is a " very, very ill boy” after developing sepsis.
Daniel Greer (16) was admitted to intensive care at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast after taking ill last month.
Writing on the Do It For Daniel page on social media, his family said “for a 16-year-old who is already very weak with leukaemia it is extremely dangerous”.
Just weeks before the family had appealed for prayers after revealing his cancer had returned shortly after he had rang the bell at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and came back home to Newry.
A pupil at Abbey Christian Brothers’ Grammar School, Daniel was diagnosed in June 2022 with an aggressive blood cancer that spreads rapidly.
Since then the family have fought a relentless campaign urging people to sign up to the stem cell register, as a transplant was the teenager’s only chance of survival.
At the time his story encouraged more than 8,000 potential donors to sign up with the DKMS charity.
In May, the family shared a video of Daniel ringing the bell following what they believed was the end of his treatment, which has involved chemotherapy, three stem cell transplants and surgery.
But last month they said they had been left “devastated” after doctors confirmed Daniel’s leukaemia had returned.
They said he was “trying to make the most of his time at home” in Newry, visiting family and friends and to “catch up on all that he has missed out on” before revealing “our little fighter is currently very unwell” in the RVH.
We are devastated to have to tell you that just a few short weeks after Daniel rang the bell at the Royal Manchester...
Posted by Do It For Daniel on Thursday 25 July 2024
In an update on Tuesday, the family said Daniel had developed sepsis, which was “extremely dangerous” for him given his condition.
“Thank you all so much for your prayers,” they said.
“Daniel was taken into intensive care at the end of last month because he had developed sepsis which left him gravely ill.
“Sepsis can be difficult to fight, even for a healthy person, but for a 16-year-old who is already very weak with leukemia it is extremely dangerous.
“Thankfully, staff at the RVH managed to stabilise Daniel to the point that he was strong enough to leave ICU and return to the haematology ward.
“He is still a very, very ill boy, but right now he is mostly comfortable, despite the many complications of this horrible disease.”
