Seven-year-old boy from Aberdeen stars in campaign after living with blood cancer for years

A young boy from Aberdeen is the star of a new Cancer Research UK campaign that aims to bring hope to other children living with the illness.

Fraser Wood was diagnosed with lymphoblastic lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, just two weeks before his fifth birthday.

His parents first took him to A&E three years ago after Fraser started to feel breathless. Within an hour he had to be transported from Aberdeen to Glasgow’s Children’s Hospital.

Doctors discovered fluid around his lungs and heart, as well as a mass in his chest.

His mum Louise described the plane journey as “a really scary moment”.

She told STV News: “It was the first time he was on a plane…I couldn’t believe it, like what was happening sitting on that plane, they’re saying it’s cancer. (I thought) surely, they must be wrong.”

Fraser, now seven, completed his treatment in December 2024 and is in remission.

He endured two years of chemotherapy but now enjoys family holidays and spending time with his younger sister Freya.

Louise said she felt a “mix of emotions” when they were told their son was officially cancer-free after such a turbulent journey to recovery.

Fraser experienced numerous complications during his treatment – he had sepsis twice as well as multiple infections.

Louise said: “We’re planning to go to Disneyland at some point because we weren’t allowed to go anywhere outside the UK, so hopefully we can get abroad because we’ve never been abroad as a family.”

Fraser’s bravery has earned him the Cancer Research UK Star Award, which means his poster will be displayed in all 500 cancer research shops around the UK.

The charity estimates that around 130 children are diagnosed with cancer every year in Scotland

It’s hoped the campaign will raise awareness and give hope to others that they are not alone.

Lisa Adams from Cancer Research UK said: “Diagnosis of cancer is devastating for people of any age but in particular for children and young people. But what we do know is that thanks to life-saving research, survival of children and young people who are diagnosed with cancer has more than doubled since the 1970s.”