Brave Callum becomes treatment trailblazer

Callum Hill has been in and out of hospital all his life and suffers from the autoimmune condition scleroderma which developed following treatment for leukaemia when he was younger.

The condition means he has very stiff joints and skin pigmentation problems which leaves his body with marks looking like bruises.

But now he is progressing following photopheresis treatment at Rotherham District General Hospital which is the only place in the UK to provide the therapy to children.

Peter Taylor, consultant in haematology in Rotherham, said the technique involved extracting some of Callum's blood and separating white cells from plasma and red cells in the blood.

"Once they've been collected the white cells are then treated with ultraviolet light to stimulate them and re-infused back into Callum," he said.

"These white blood cells will help to treat his immune system and his body should start to fight off the infections that most of us do naturally."

His parents, Nick and Netta, of Rugby in Warwickshire, said they were delighted with improvements after only three treatments and the marks on his body had already begun to fade.

When he was first born, the family were told Callum would only live for six months but, despite the grim prognosis, he has battled on.

But his scleroderma has caused hardening of his soft tissues and joints so he struggles to do things that other children take for granted including walking and playing with friends.

His mother said: "Because his joints are set in position, Callum can't ride a bike, play football with his mates or go swimming. He sometimes tells me he would like to be a normal little boy which makes me feel a bit sad, but most of the time he's really strong and he always a big smile on his face."