A community has pulled together and rallied round a family whose little boy is fighting liver cancer after being diagnosed earlier this month.

Aaron Jordan, known as AJ, is just 22-months-old and was diagnosed with liver cancer after experiencing severe tummy pains.

AJ hadn’t shown symptoms for long before being diagnosed and since then things have moved fast for the Scott family, who live in Aspatria.

Devonne Irwin, who is a family friend of Mel and Janine Scott, AJ’s parents, explained: “On Bank Holiday Monday he had really bad stomach pains so they’d taken him to either CHOC or the doctors and it had been put down to a viral infection and they were told to go back if things didn’t get any better.

“They took him back on Thursday, September 3 and he was referred to the children’s ward and there they did the ultrasounds and X-rays and then Mel and Janine were told they were to be transferred to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle to have an assessment there on his tummy and they did some MRIs and biopsies and they had confirmation on the Friday.

“Pretty much overnight they thought he had tummy pain and it’s gone from that to being diagnosed with liver cancer.

“It’s so sad and shocking because there has been no long-term illness and no other symptoms; it’s come out of nowhere and there was no way of them setting themselves up.”

This was where Mrs Irwin came up with the idea to set up a GoFundMe page to help take the financial burden off Mel and Janine while AJ is going through chemotherapy.

Mrs Irwin set up the page on behalf of her dad because he and Mel, AJ’s dad, have been family friends for a long time.

“They’ve worked together because Mel is the landlord of the Sun Inn and my dad has always done discos and karaoke nights with Mel since he was really young,” said Mrs Irwin.

“They’ve always worked together and been really close so we’re family friends and I sing as well so I’ve sang quite regularly in the pub.

“It’s all been quite fast really; it’s happened really quick.

“So, we were told this week that AJ wasn’t very well and that he was taken into The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and within a couple of days was taken to the RVI and then diagnosed.

“It was natural for me to think: 'I need to do something to help and support them because they are not able to work,' because AJ’s got 18 weeks of chemotherapy before his operation.”

Mrs Irwin set the fundraising page up on behalf of her dad so they can help support the family financially as they both recognise the costs that are now associated with having a child ill in a hospital away from home.

Mrs Irwin continued: “It costs a lot of money to go backwards and forwards to Newcastle and they are staying in a bed and breakfast nearby and they’re only allowed an hour together with him at a time, then the rest of the time they have to swap and go back to the hotel.

“So, it’s going to cost a lot of money for food and toys for AJ to keep him entertained.”

The fundraiser has taken off quicker than Mrs Irwin ever expected it would, with many other people in Aspatria now trying to raise money for the Scott family too.

Mrs Irwin added: “It’s doing really well already. Then locally lots of people in our town, because Mel and Janine are such a big part of it and we’re such a small town, is backing them and just wanting to be helpful and supportive.

“Mel has always done charity nights at the pub as well so it’s our bit back to him and Janine.

“The GoFundMe page shocked me at how much was raised within the first few hours.

“They are the landlords of the pub – Janine is behind the bar – and they have just had to put their lives on hold to go to Newcastle.

“You obviously don’t plan for anything like this so it’s been out of the blue and we wanted to take some of the stress off them, especially because they’ve only just gone back to work because of Covid. So, this is them taking another step back and we wanted to help.”

To donate to the fundraising page go to https://www.gofundme.com/f/little-aj-will-039never-walk-alone039?