The family of a little boy battling cancer is set to spend their second Christmas in a row in hospital.

Gareth Crabb hasn't seen his three siblings since the summer.

The brave young boy has spent the last two-and-a-half years receiving treatment for a host of illnesses after first receiving a cancer diagnosis at the age of four.

The Townhill, Swansea, six-year-old received a bone marrow transplant in August, but has remained in hospital in Leeds ever since because the transplanted cells began to attack his body, reports Wales Online .

Gareth, described as a thoughtful and caring little boy, ordinarily lives with his mum Emma and three siblings Cerys, 10, Alfie, seven and eight-week-old Enzo.

His family are now planning to travel the almost 300 miles to Leeds to stay with Gareth over the Christmas period.

His grandmother Bernice Crabb said: "He is such a caring and loving little boy.

"He always thinks of others more than himself. He's just amazing. He's always asking what his brothers and sister are doing."

Bernice said Gareth was a happy and healthy little boy with no sign of illness until his first week at infant school.

The 52-year-old said he fell over, banged his head and had to be collected from school.

Although he developed a nasty lump on the front of his head, his GP advised taking him home and remaining vigilant for signs of concussion.

"Then one day the lump just got bigger," Bernice said.

"Emma took him straight to the hospital. They did a CT scan and they told us they had found a growth."

In October 2017, Gareth was diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL), a form of cancer which develops when white blood cells called T-cells become abnormal.

Gareth spent 10 months in the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, receiving treatment.

That first Christmas, Gareth's family decamped from Swansea to Cardiff to spend the holidays with him.

The Welsh children's cancer charity Latch provided accommodation and even a kitchen so that they could cook Christmas dinner together.

"It was strange at first," Bernice said. "But as long as we are all together we can make it work."

Gareth's treatment hit him hard.

At one point he developed sepsis and spent about two-and-a-half weeks in intensive care.

He eventually rang the end of treatment bell in April 2018 and returned home.

But just a few days later, he began to develop more severe pain and was blue lighted back to UHW where he was taken into emergency theatre and underwent another five-hour surgery.

Doctors found his bowel was stuck together and twisting, so had to fit a new stoma.

Biopsies were taken, and Gareth's family were told his cancer had spread to his lyphnodes and kidneys.

It was eventually decided Gareth's best chance of remaining cancer free was to have a bone marrow transplant.

He was eventually given the transplant in August, earlier this year, in Leeds – the only hospital available to do the transplant.

He had two weeks of radiotherapy and chemotherapy to prepare him for the procedure, which eventually took place on his sixth birthday.

But several complications have meant Gareth is still in Leeds and hasn't returned home since August.

Unfortunately, Gareth has developed graft versus host disease (GvHD), a condition that causes the donated cells to attack the body.

On Saturday November 23, he was put into an induced coma after his kidneys began to fail and he was having trouble breathing.

His condition has now improved, but his family said he is likely to be in hospital until after Christmas.

Fortunately, the family have been offered accommodation in Leeds to stay with Gareth until January.

Gareth's mum Emma Crabb, 28, said: "It's really hard. I don't know what do for the best.

"We will be up until the New Year and hopefully we will be back after. It's hard enough being in Cardiff never mind up there."

"It will be the first time the older two have seen him since August so hopefully that will cheer him up a little bit."

Family friends have started a crowdfunding page to attempt to help Gareth's family cover expenses while staying so far from home.

To find out more visit their JustGiving page here .

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