A Rainham family has been touched by the “magnificent" support shown by their neighbours for their two-year-old son with leukaemia.

Katie Bolke-Carver, 31, and Timo Bolke, 34, have two children; four-year-old Nina and two-year-old Niko.

However, when the whole family fell sick with a tummy bug and Niko didn’t recover, family life as they knew it changed.

On February 18, Niko was diagnosed with leukaemia, which the National Cancer Institute says is the most common cancer in children younger than 15.

Leading up to the diagnosis Niko “stopped being himself... didn’t want to play or eat and just wanted to sit on the sofa and cuddle”, Katie said.

The 31-year-old said she is optimistic that her son will be cured, with treatment expected to last "at least 30 months”.

She said: "It’s hard, anyone that hears the word cancer thinks it’s a death sentence, and with it being our baby boy we both broke down.

"It was very emotional."

Romford Recorder: Two-year-old Niko was diagnosed with leukaemia on February 18.Two-year-old Niko was diagnosed with leukaemia on February 18. (Image: Kelley Davis photography)

The family's neighbours - partners Gemma Reeve and Jennifer Harto, both 32 - set up a GoFundMe page in a bid to raise £10,000 to help the family afford the cost of their weekly travel to London's Great Ormond Street Hospital.

So far, it has raised more than £7,180 thanks to donations from around 200 people.

Gemma said: “I set it up the evening of hearing Niko’s diagnosis and by the next day, we’d already raised £4,500.

“It’s anything to help and we’re happy we’ve been able to do something to take pressure off the family so they can concentrate on Niko’s recovery.”

Katie said she “burst into tears” when she heard: “The response has been magnificent, people are extremely caring and it’s heartwarming – even £5 is a lunch and drink for me while in hospital – it makes a huge difference and I'm very grateful”.

In a bid to document Niko's journey, Katie set up an Instagram account @ourlifewithleukemia.

She said: “I use it to remember what day we did certain things and to channel the information and get it off my chest so I'm not holding it in.

“It’s a way of explaining what we’ve been through and I hope we will look back on it all when Niko has recovered.”


The 31-year-old encouraged people in similar situations to take “one day at a time”, “cry if you need to cry” and “reach out to people for support”.

Donate at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-Niko--his-family-a-life-with-leukaemia