THE community has rallied behind a six year old boy from Kidderminster who is battling cancer for the second time in his life.

Family friends of Lukas Duberley, who was first diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia at the age of two, have launched a fundraising appeal to pay for treatment and kit out a downstairs bedroom to better suit Lukas’ needs.

Lukas was in remission for eight months and was expected to be given the all clear in September, when he started to have headaches and lost sight in one of his eyes and was rushed back into hospital.

“We were hoping to be able to ring the bell at Birmingham Children’s Hospital to say he was all clear,” said dad Marc, aged 42. “But then we found out the cancer had come back in his spinal canal.

“Lukas has already been through hell and back. He lost his hair, then grew it back, then lost it again. He wasn’t allowed to start school so had to go a year late.

“He’d just got back on his feet at school and started to enjoy things when we found out.”

Lukas now lives with his mum in Walsall but spends weekends at his dad’s home in Kidderminster.

He is undergoing a 10-week course of intensive chemotherapy and his mum, dad and younger sister Eva are waiting to hear if they are a match for a stem cell transplant.

In the meantime, Lukas’ family are exploring alternative treatments which could cost up to £35,000.

“He’s getting stronger day by day and we’re hoping we don’t have to go private,” said Marc. “At the moment he can’t get up and down the stairs so we want to adapt a bedroom downstairs so he can have some more independence.

“He’s been through so much but he’s still smiling. He gets frustrated when he can’t do things but he’s still a happy go lucky little boy.”

Friends of the family have set up a Facebook page to collect donations, post updates on Lukas’ treatment and advertise fundraisers, starting with a raffle and family fun day at the Loom & Shuttle pub in Stourport Road from 12pm on April 27.

The event, organised by friends Kerri and Ross Hopkins, will feature stalls and a bouncy castle.

Lee Meola, from Stourport, who launched the Facebook page with his partner Emma Beard, said: “We’ve reached nearly £1,000 on the Facebook page already and it has only been live for a few days.

“Lukas has been fighting for so long. Whether the family needs the money for treatment or to adapt his bedroom or to give the family some time away, hopefully it can help them to get back to normality.”

For more information or to donate, search Let’s Help Lukas on Facebook.