‘Our boy was diagnosed with cancer after doctors found 2.3kg mass – he has relapsed twice and treatments are limited’

The parents of a “resilient” six-year-old boy who is facing cancer for a third time after relapsing are fundraising to access treatment abroad to give him “the best possible chance of beating this”.

At just two years old, in February 2022, Tommy Verbickas, from Sale, Greater Manchester, was diagnosed with Wilms tumour, a type of kidney cancer, after doctors discovered a 2.3kg mass on his left kidney.

He underwent chemotherapy, surgery and countless hospital visits, and he rang the end-of-treatment bell in November 2022, with his parents, Rebecca and Darius, believing “that chapter was closed”.

However, Tommy has since relapsed twice and is facing cancer for a third time – and Rebecca, 37, who works in customer service, and Darius, 46, an HGV driver, have been told his “chance of cure is now low”.

With local treatment options being limited, the couple are fundraising for “clinical trials and innovative therapies not available through the NHS” to give him the best chance to “get better and win this”.

“At the time (of his first diagnosis), one of the play specialists said, ‘If you’re going to get cancer, this is the best cancer to get’,” Rebecca told PA Real Life.

“Now, looking back, I just think, how can she say that?

“I’ve never had that time to grieve and process it, because it’s always been so constant, and the question I’m asked the most is: ‘How do you do it?’

“I have no choice. I have no choice but to carry on and be the strongest version for him.

“It’s him that drives me, he’s my inspiration, he’s my superhero.”

Rebecca describes Tommy as an active, cheeky and smiley six-year-old boy, who loves football, dancing and playing with his four siblings.

In the months prior to his diagnosis, in 2021, Rebecca explained that Tommy “kept being sick”, regularly had high temperatures, experienced weight loss and constipation and his testicles were swollen.

However, every time they visited the GP, she claims they were sent away and told “it’s viral”.

She believes she visited the GP at least four times and she went to hospital twice – and she said “it still didn’t get diagnosed”.

Rebecca phoned NHS 111 in February 2022 for further advice and a doctor visited their home, arranging for Tommy to give a urine sample and have his bloods taken.

Rebecca explained: “She just said, ‘There’s something going on, I don’t know what it is’, and, obviously, I didn’t question it.”

While waiting for a blood test, which Rebecca said “the GP didn’t follow up on”, Tommy started to improve – but less than two weeks later, Rebecca’s mother, who was looking after him, noticed blood in his nappy.

After asking the GP for Tommy’s medical notes, they rushed him to A&E, and Rebecca said this is when she first saw cancer mentioned in the notes as suspected “leukaemia or myeloma”.

An urgent scan then revealed on February 24 that Tommy, then aged two, had a 2.3kg mass on his left kidney, specifically Wilms tumour, and they were transferred to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.

According to Cancer Research UK, Wilms tumour is a type of kidney cancer which most commonly affects young children and symptoms include blood in urine, loss of appetite, fever, weight loss and constipation.

Tommy soon started chemotherapy and doctors told Rebecca that he had “a good chance” of reaching remission, but she found the diagnosis “very hard”.

“When I first walked on to the oncology ward, I just completely broke down,” she explained.

“You don’t ever think you’re going to be put in that situation… but doctors said there was a 95% chance of it not coming back on this treatment and he should go on to live life.”

After undergoing 38 weeks of chemotherapy, eight sessions of proton beam therapy and “an eight-hour surgery” to remove his left kidney, Rebecca said he was like “a different child” and started recovering.

He rang the end-of-treatment bell in November 2022, and Rebecca said they “truly believed that chapter was closed” as scans showed no evidence of disease.

Tommy started nursery again and was “getting stronger every day”, but during one of his maintenance scans in September 2023, doctors told Rebecca the cancer had returned in his lungs.

“I remember coming home that day and he was playing on his scooter, and I thought, ‘How have we just been told that it’s come back?’,” she said.

“But again, it was very positive, because he hadn’t had a lot of treatment the first time, so they were saying he can still do this, he’s got a good 70%, 75% chance that it won’t come back.”

Rebecca said he “reacted well” to the chemotherapy, although he did lose his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes, and he underwent two surgeries to remove the cancerous tissue in his lungs, along with radiotherapy.

In August 2024, Rebecca and Darius were told there was no evidence of disease again.

However, in May 2025, less than a year later, Rebecca said they were given “news no parent ever wants to hear” – that Tommy had relapsed for the second time, aged five.

Scans revealed the cancer was “extensive” in his left lung and the couple were informed the “chance of cure is now low”.

Rebecca said they were “so hopeful the second time”, so this news left her “heartbroken and devastated”.

“I felt like there was no point. All I wanted to do was stay in bed,” Rebecca said.

“But a friend text me and said, ‘Just live in the moment today’, and I do that all the time.

“Tommy just gets on with everything that’s thrown at him… what he is doing is just amazing.”

Tommy has been going through “more intense chemotherapy” and is responding well to treatment, and he will soon start “high-dose” chemotherapy from October.

However, after these chemotherapies, Rebecca said she has been told that “there are no treatments left on the NHS”.

The couple have therefore launched a JustGiving page to raise £300,000 to give Tommy “the best possible chance of beating this”, where the funds would be used for travel and relocation, food, visas and more.

“We want to be in the best possible situation,” Rebecca said.

“Even though the treatment is working now and we’re very grateful, the likelihood of it coming back is very high, and at that point, we would then need to source trials in America or anywhere in the world.”

Rebecca said Tommy is still active and keeping up with some schoolwork via an AV1 robot, which allows him to join in on lessons from home and speak to his friends, and she described him as her “Wilms warrior”.

She said his diagnoses have taught her not to “take the little things for granted” and she is urging other parents to advocate for their child and “demand” answers when it comes to their health.

Speaking about how much raising the funds would mean to her, she added: “Everyone who has donated and is doing their own fundraising, they’re just incredible.

“Knowing that people you’ve never met are giving him a chance of life and surviving this, there are no words that would explain what that would do for us, for Tommy, the family, everyone.

“It would be incredible because no-one should have to fight for their life like this.”

Pascale Harvie, president and general manager of JustGiving, said: “Tommy’s journey is a powerful testament to courage and resilience.

“From an incredibly young age, he has faced challenges that no child should ever have to endure – yet his strength, spirit and determination continue to inspire everyone around him.

“His family’s unwavering commitment to sharing his story and seeking every possible avenue for treatment not only highlights the realities faced by so many others, but also brings hope and awareness to a wider audience.

“Their bravery is deeply moving, and we send them our heartfelt support as they continue this journey together.”

To find out more, visit the fundraising page at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/tommysjourney- or visit his Instagram page @tommys_journey__.