Keith Fahrenholz and Carole Leonard have been overwhelmed by people's generosity after learning that a staggering £2,000 has been raised in just one week.

The bulk of the money raised so far has come from a 27 mile sponsored walk by Carole's workmates at Bookers Cash and Carry in Northwich.

"It's absolutely fantastic," said Carole. "Everybody has just been so great. We're getting cards from people we don't know and people we do know are visiting.

"The phone hasn't stopped ringing. We just want to thank everybody for everything."

The couple's son Johnathan has been diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia and faces two years of intensive chemotherapy.

Doctors hope it will kill his diseased white blood cells and allow new cancer-free cells to grow.

Little Johnathan, who goes to Victoria Road Primary School, has already started an induction course of chemotherapy at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

He has had injections in his leg and hand and is finding it very distressing.

Carole said: "He cried all the way home from hospital and said he hated it. I try not to cry in front of the children but I do when they have gone to bed."

Doctors are operating on Johnathan today, Wednesday, to check his bone marrow and give him a lumber puncture to see how things are progressing. If things are going smoothly, intensive chemotherapy is likely to start the week after next.

The Teletubby mad youngster has already had his hair cut extremely short so it is not so distressing for him when his hair falls out.

FUND-RAISING for Johnathan and his family family is being organised all over Northwich.

Bookers Cash and Carry have organised a charity night including supper for Friday, February 20 at Hartford British Legion Club, which has given the room free of charge.

The disco on that night will be run by Amanda Johnson, a mother at Victoria Road Primary School and her husband. Equipment has been donated by Cheshire Choice Radio station.

Victoria Road Primary School, where Johnathan and Carole's two other children Pamela and James are also pupils, are donating proceeds of a Valentine disco to the family.

Station Cars in Middlewich Road has placed charity boxes in all its cabs.

Barclays Bank in Northwich has matched the £400 raised by one of the walkers on Sunday and Cheshire Choice radio station is giving proceeds of two events already booked in March to the fund.

Donations are being accepted at the Halifax Building Society in Northwich, account number Halifax plc 2/37046110/7.

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