A mum from Lewisham will run the London Marathon today to thank a children’s hospital for giving her son lifesaving treatment.

August-James Elson-Wharton (known as Aj), who is now five years old, spent 22 days at Evelina London Children’s Hospital including 10 days in the paediatric intensive care unit last year.

After baffling doctors, Aj was found to have a rare immune disorder where the body overreacts to an infection.

He first became unwell with a rash and a fever at the end of September 2021.

Aj was taken to his local hospital where he remained for around a week, and after numerous tests, scans and x-rays doctors were still unable to figure out what was making him unwell.

He was then transferred to Evelina London Children’s Hospital, which is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, on October 6 for specialist treatment.

His mum, Cherrelle Wharton, who lives in Forest Hill said: “Aj was a medical mystery “He was seen by the rheumatology, haematology and infectious diseases teams and had further scans and x-rays.

“So many people at Evelina London made a difference, including the doctors, nurses, occupational therapists and physiotherapists.”

Aj was eventually diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis – also known as HLH.

It causes severe inflammation and damage to the liver, spleen and bone marrow.

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Cherrelle, 36, explained: “Those 10 days when he was in intensive care were the hardest of our lives.

“Aj was hooked up to machines to help assist with his breathing and different tubes were placed inside him to give multiple medications – it was hard to watch but through it all the doctors and nurses did their best to keep us reassured and keep us updated.

“We realised after Aj came out of hospital that he could have died and the staff had really looked after us.”

Cherrelle completed her first marathon (which is 26.2 miles) in 2018 in six hours and is hoping that she will be able to finish with a quicker time this year.

She said: “I would like to raise as much money as possible for Evelina London Children’s Hospital to say thank you and to show my appreciation for everything they did for Aj and our family, and to ensure they can continue to help other families like ours in the future.

“Aj is five years old and is back at school.

“He doesn’t remember his time in hospital but I took lots of photos and have his files so he can look back one day to see what he went through and how brave he was.”

Dr Jenny Handforth, a consultant in paediatric infectious diseases and immunology at Evelina London said: “Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis – or HLH – can be an extremely challenging condition to diagnose and treat.

“A huge team of skilled health professionals across a range of services at Evelina London worked together to provide the best possible care for Aj and to support his family.

“I know I speak on behalf of all the teams involved in his care, which includes paediatric infectious diseases, haematology, rheumatology, intensive care, general paediatrics, cardiology, pharmacy and allied health professionals, that we are extremely pleased and proud that Aj has done so well.

“We are so grateful to his mum, Cherrelle, for taking on the London Marathon to support Evelina London so we can be there for even more children in the future.”

To help Cherrelle reach her fundraising target, click here.

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