When Laura Lineker’s fiancé started being sick, she thought the explanation was clear.
Their one-year-old, Marnie, had caught a sickness bug from nursery — and it seemed Mathew, 35, now had it too.
But while little Marnie quickly recovered, Mathew’s condition seemed to worsen. And, after a series of tests, Laura and Matthew, who are also parents to Freddie, three, were dealt devestating news.
Mathew was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, and is currently recieving treatment.
Laura, 34, said: ‘I was shocked — completely horrified.
‘The children are really struggling. We play doctors at home to try to make it less scary for them.
‘It’s still too early to tell how he’s responding to the chemotherapy, but we’re hoping to have some positive news soon.’
It was June this year when Mathew first started being sick. Laura, a solicitor, from Seaford, said: ‘The children bring home a lot of bugs from nursery. We thought this was just a bug or something.
‘But it turned out Marnie had a UTI, so we then thought it was strange that they’d been sick at the same time.’
Laura said she ‘pushed and pushed’ for her partner to go to the doctor, but added ‘he was a typical man’.
‘He thought it would be fine,’ she said. ‘But about four days later, the sickness just got unbearable, and he couldn’t get out of bed, so I called an ambulance.’
The parademics gave Mathew paracetamol, and advised going to hospital the next day if he was still unwell.
But at 5am the following morning, Laura woke up to find her fiancé vomiting and drove him to hospital.
After a series of examinations, blood tests and a bone marrow biopsy, Mathew was eventually diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia.
Laura said: ‘We were at the hospital together in A&E when a haematologist came to see us after reviewing Mathew’s blood test results.
‘He said he needed to take us to his ward where it was quieter and we would have a chat.
‘When we got to the ward we were told there were leukaemia cells in his blood, and further tests needed to be done to determine what strain this was.
‘We were so shocked. We had gone to A&E with a suspicion that Mathew might be diabetic — not have cancer.
‘Our first thoughts were of the children. Mathew said: “I have to see the children grow up”. It was the worst day of my life.’
Reeling from the news, the pair didn’t tell their children for a week. ‘At first, I told them that Daddy was on holiday,’ said Laura.
‘It was only when we realised he’d have to stay there for the foreseeable future that we told them Daddy’s poorly and needs to stay at the hospital to get better.’
On August 7, Mathew started chemotherapy, during which he’ll recieve multiple doses over a 20 day period. and is being kept under observation in Eastborne Hospital to avoid infection while he undergoes treatment.
Laura said: ‘The risk of germs is massive.
‘He now has no immune system at all. I’ve not been able to visit him because there’s hand, foot and mouth disease going round the kids’ nursery.
‘If I contract that and take it to him, it will kill him.’
Laura said the situation has been especially hard on Marnie and Freddie.
She said: ‘The children are really struggling. They’re still very young so they don’t really understand the concept of being ill.
‘Our daughter’s too young to understand, but she knows something’s wrong, so she’s really emotional and clingy.
‘Our son is older — he’s asking why daddy can’t come home, and is waking up in the night asking for him.
“He doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. I’ve just had to say daddy’s poorly and the doctors are going to make him better.
‘When we took them to the hospital my son wore his doctor’s coat and hat so he could help fix Daddy.’
The family are now raising money to help cover daily essentials, after Mat has been forced to give up work at his lighting business, and Laura is now no longer able to work full time.
So far, almost £8,000 has been raised for the family. ‘The response has been incredible, and we’re all so grateful,’ said Laura.
To donate, visit Mathew’s GoFundMe page.
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