WHEN Joel Rudakov-Davies, pictured, developed leukaemia his family was devastated.

But after four months of chemotherapy the three-year-old is now in remission and back home in Llanfach Road, Abercarn, with mum Nicola and dad Chris.

Joel came home three weeks ago after spending more than four months at Llandough Hospital, near Penarth.

He was diagnosed with Acute Myloid Leukaemia, the second most common form of leukaemia in children, in August last year and since then the family had been staying at Llandough Hospital while Joel underwent chemotherapy.

Nicola, 28, said: "These past few months have been an absolute nightmare but hopefully now Joel is in re-mission we can start to be a family again."

Joel's medical problems began when he appeared to be generally under the weather. Nicola said: "I had noticed that Joel's energy levels had dropped and he had become very pale, so we took him to the doctors."

She said the doctor examined Joel and sent them to the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, for blood tests to discover whether the child was anaemic.

Nicola said: "At 8pm on the same night they told myself and Chris that Joel had AML." She said they were both worried when they discovered what was wrong with their son - as her husband's aunt had died of AML two years previously.

Nicola said: "We went straight over to Llandough Hospital after we were told about the leukaemia and we stayed there for four months in the bungalows provided by the charity LATCH. (Llandough Aims to Treat Children with Cancer with Hope)."

Nicola said: "We stayed at the hospital and my mum and dad looked after our second child, Dayten, who was only five and a half weeks old when Joel was taken in." Joel started his intensive period of chemotherapy straight away.

She said: "Joel had four blocks of chemotherapy - and fortunately we learnt that the chemotherapy had been successful and he was in remission."

She said: "People in Abercarn started to raise money for LATCH and the response was amazing."

She said their target was £1,000 but the money just kept coming in from the local rugby club, local schools and people who just wanted to donate.

She said: "At the end of all the fund- raising we had managed to raise £3,000 for LATCH to help them carry on the good work."

Nicola said that they would now be making the most of every day that they could spend with Joel and Dayten, now six-months-old.

She said: "Joel is now starting to be a normal little boy again and it is great to see him make friends and regain his appetite."

Nicola added: "I would like to thank all our friends and family for being so supportive and the community for supporting us and LATCH. We are now back home together as a family."