An Aussie mum has shared her heartbreaking story as her son's life-saving transplant left him with a 'rare and aggressive' cancer.
As a newborn, Nicholas was diagnosed with biliary atresia - a typically childhood disease that of the liver that blocks bile ducts.
After spending moths being kept alive by machines in ICU, Nicholas finally underwent surgery.
While the operation kept Nicholas alive, he has suffered with numerous complications, resulting in over 100 hospitalisations in his six year life.
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With those hospital visits, Nicholas has undergone numerous blood tests and surgeries, and his life was turned upside down once again in June.
That is because the six-year-old has now been diagnosed with an aggressive 'late stage' post transplant cancer, following him complaining of a 'sore tummy' the week before.
Nicholas' mum, Elena Reed, a single mother-of-three boys, told Yahoo News: "Lately he has been doing really well. We hadn’t been to the hospital for almost a year. This cancer diagnosis came totally out of the blue.
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"It’s everywhere now — it’s spread in his stomach, in his intestines, all the way up to his shoulders and lungs as well — it’s the worst type of lymphoma."
The news came as a massive shock to Elena, especially considering Nicholas only had tummy problems a week before his devastating diagnosis.
"I was blaming myself thinking that I had missed it, but I hadn’t missed any scheduled appointments," the devastated mum added.
She went on to say that the current situation is 'very difficult', before adding: "He’s such a deep soul. He was so looking forward to school holidays."
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Nicholas is now expected to undergo at least two years of treatment, which will include radiation.
His mum added: "If he makes it through. There’s hope but there’s also complications and a lot of possibilities that the situation can go. I cry every day."
As a result of Nicholas' troubled life, Elena has received a lot of help from support workers while also setting up a GoFundMe.
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The GoFundMe sits at a whopping AUS$30,000 (£15,700, just days after the page was first set up.
"Without this help we would never be able to see the other side," the mum added.
As for Nicholas, his dream is to travel to Singapore one day, with Elena keen to take him at some point.
Callum Jones