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Fundraising day held in memory of Kingswinford boy who died from Lymphoma

A fundraising day has been held in memory of a 12-year-old boy who died from Lymphoma.

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Alison, organiser and Daniel's mother, with daughter Katie, aged nine.

Daniel Banner, from Kingswinford, died on Easter Sunday in 2017 from Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma– only 11 weeks after first becoming ill.

And for the second year, near Daniel's birthday on June 7, his parents have held the It's a Knockout event to support research into the condition.

People came together to tackle a range of fun-filled games across inflatable objects.

Teacher Simon Baggott helped raise money

Alison Banner, his mother, said: "It was in the memory of Daniel Banner. He was our son and he passed away just over two years ago.

"It's the second knockout event we've done to raise money.

"We've done some other bits for charity like a sponsored swim, but this event we held because his birthday was on June 7.

"We do something to celebrate what would've been his birthday.

"We had less numbers than last year in the run-up to the event because of some football teams playing, but to say that we've still had a good turnout.

"Bearing in mind the weather, it's gone as well as it could have gone, all things being considered."

Treatment

Alison and husband David, both from Wordsley, initially thought Daniel had a chest infection – but he didn't respond to any treatment.

He was admitted to Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, before being transferred to a hospital Stoke to be put on an oscillator.

The youngster was then transferred again to Birmingham Children's Hospital (BCH), where he was put on lung bypass and then heart and lung bypass.

It was discovered the Kingswinford Academy pupil had Anaplastic Large Cell Lymphoma (ALCL) and he started chemotherapy.

"It was aggressive and it took his lungs away – he didn't have the capability to breathe in the end," the 51-year-old, from Wordsley, said.

"We had many ups and downs because we thought he was getting better and he just passed away.

"It really was 11 weeks of illness.

"He was 12 at the time. He was about six or seven weeks from his birthday and that made it a bit hard for us.

"He would've been a strapping 15-year-old lad now."

Memory

More than £18,000 has since been raised in his memory – with funds going to Intensive Care and Oncology Units at BCH.

Youngsters enjoy the event in memory of Daniel Banner

The KIDS Ambulances, which transported the youngster, and Ronald MacDonald House – where his parents stayed in Birmingham – also received a share of the cash.

Money has also been given to the University of Birmingham to continue to study ALCL.

Alison, who has two other children – 11-year-old Jake and nine-year-old Katy – hopes people won't have to "go through" what her family went through.

Daniel (centre) with siblings Jake and Katie on the family's last holiday together in August 2016

She said: "The university is actually looking into the type of lymphoma Dan had and we gave them £3,000 last year and we aim to give them some more this year.

"It's to find a cure one day and to make sure families don't have to go through what we went through with Dan."

The fundraising day saw Terry from the Great British Bake Off auctioning off some of his cakes, a signed ball from West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham FC tickets.

"I think everyone still managed to have a good time and enjoy themselves," she added.

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