Residents urged to send Christmas cards to Newtownabbey baby undergoing cancer treatment
A call has been made for Christmas cards to be sent to a baby from Rathcoole, following his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
Archie Lewis started chemotherapy at just four months old at the end of July after being diagnosed with a glioma tumour behind his right eye with a slight spread on the surface of the brain.
Now at eight months, the Newtownabbey infant, who has spent a considerable period of his short life in hospital, is back in the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children receiving treatment on the Hematology Ward due to a recurring infection.
In an effort to help him celebrate his first Christmas, his grandmother Patricia has called on members of the community to send him cards that he can look back on when he is older.
Speaking to the Newtownabbey Times on December 10, Archie’s mum Carly Shirley Glendinning said: “He’s on the Hematology Ward. We hope to be home for his first Christmas. My mum Patricia started the card appeal for him and called on people to send him a card so he can keep it in a memory box.
“She thought it would be nice for him to have for his first Christmas. I have been staying with him in hospital and a few people have messaged to say they have sent cards, so I am sure he will have a few this week.
"He has not had it easy in the four months since being diagnosed.”
Anyone wishing to send Archie a card is asked to send it to 58 Rathcoole Drive, Newtownabbey.