Blackpool to Rochdale walk raises over £12,000 pounds for Josh McCormack

Blackpool to Rochdale walk raises over £12,000 pounds for Josh McCormack

Over £12,000 was raised by 28 people walking from Blackpool to Rochdale for five-year-old Joshua McCormack on Saturday (15 October).

26 of the 28 walkers completed the 45-mile route, which took them 15 hours.

They set off from Blackpool at 6.30am and arrived back in Rochdale at 9.30pm.

The event took place to aid Joshua McCormack’s family with their finances.

Josh, from Whitworth, was diagnosed with an inoperable malignant brain tumour in his brainstem in October 2015. A biopsy later revealed he was suffering from a rare primitive neuroectodermal tumour (PNET). Only 66 people in the world have been diagnosed with PNET.

On 10 November last year, Josh was given odds of fifty-fifty of surviving surgery. Nicola was warned Josh might have facial paralysis and a permanent tracheotomy to help with his breathing.

After eight hours of surgery, Josh had pulled through.

He learned to walk again after a couple of weeks of physiotherapy and no longer required a wheelchair in the ward. Josh had no facial paralysis and did not require any breathing assistance.

As the tumour was not completely removed, his parents were told that he would need 31 days of radiotherapy to his whole brain and his spine, followed by four high doses of chemotherapy and stem cell rescue.

During treatment, Josh experienced kidney damage and hearing and vision loss. His spine and skull will remain underdeveloped and he has been left with learning disabilities. He has also received blood and platelet transfusions.

Josh’s treatment was abandoned after he was induced into a coma following a fungal lung infection. He was receiving his third round of chemotherapy.