'All we can do is pray, wait and wish': Happy Christmas for Zac and family

But the four-year-old still managed to enjoy his Christmas Day despite having to go for chemotherapy.

After a morning trip to the hospital Zac got to open his presents.

And in a photograph shared by his family the inspirational youngster could be seen beaming as he unwrapped gifts from play sets and toy trucks to a Mr Bean DVD.

Now the family is looking towards 2019, and as the end of the year approaches, Zac’s mother, Hannah Oliver-Willets, has been sending out letters with handwritten notes to people who have backed their incredible and heart warming campaign.

Zac, from Broseley, has an extremely rare form of childhood leukaemia called Near Haploid, and has been to America for the first part of revolutionary CAR-T treatment, which is unavailable on the NHS.

He is thought to be the only person with the condition in the country.

Earlier this year, the youngster captured the hearts of people in the region, and then the country, as well-wishers defied the odds and got together to raise more than £630,000 needed for his treatment.

“Now the dust has settled from a phenomenal few months, we are now back from Philadelphia and we are looking forward to a relaxing Christmas with our friends and family,” Hannah’s letter says.

“In supporting our campaign, you all helped to raise money for little Zac Oliver to go to Philadelphia in America where they could give him life-saving treatment for his incredible rare form of cancer. It was so kind of you to get involved and be part of this amazing group effort. Thank you.

“We are so proud of how our community and beyond came together to achieve the unthinkable and have given Zac a chance, with the support of schools, businesses, friends and even celebrities.

“Without you all, we would never have raised the £500,000 that we needed, within seven weeks, to get him to America – in fact we raised over £630,000 which supports Zac’s journey and unexpected medical needs. In the future, we hope to support other families in this situation.”

New logo chosen for Zac’s battle

A new logo for Zac Oliver’s brave battle campaign has been revealed.

Zac’s family will continue to raise funds after his treatment is complete, which will go to researching his rare condition, Near Haploid, and supporting other children diagnosed with it.

The logo was submitted by an eight-year-old Telford girl, and was chosen out of hundreds of entries.

Hannah Oliver-Willets, Zac’s mother, said: “We love her picture – it was fantastic. We would like to say a massive thank you to everybody who entered. We had hundreds of applicants. They were phenomenal.”

Hannah said she hoped the additional fundraising would one day help to find a cure for Near Haploid.

What's next for Zac?

While he is still undergoing chemotherapy – including the session on Christmas Day – the next stage of Zac’s treatment in America will take place in January.

The youngster and his family will travel back across the Atlantic and return to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

When there, the T cells, which were harvested from Zac’s blood in November and are currently being modified in a laboratory, will be re-infused into his body.

Hannah admitted that she still struggles to come to terms with how and why Zac became ill. She said: “Last week one of the few children in the world who has Zac’s cancer relapsed. It can happen just like that. Then you start thinking why? Why is Near Haploid so aggressive and why did Zac get it?

“Even now that still confuses me. You’d think I’d have put it to bed by now.

“Even the other week, when I had a clinic meeting with our oncologist, I asked him how he got it. Have I given him something? Have I done something that’s caused him to have it? Is it my fault? What did I do wrong?

“I want that answer, but maybe it’s an answer I’ll never get.”

In her letter to Zac’s supporters Hannah also took the chance to again say thank you to all those who helped raise the money for Zac’s treatment. She said: “We can’t even begin to express how grateful we are for your unfaltering support over the past few months. We know you have given us everything and on many occasions this has taken over your own work, family and life. Words can never say how truly thankful we are for everything that you have done for Zac and our family.”

The letter is signed Zac’s family and “the superhero himself, Zac Oliver”.

The nightmare for Zac and his family began on May 18 when he was diagnosed.

Hannah said: “The day we were referred from the GP practice to PRH I had sent a text to my mum that morning saying I think he has leukaemia. I just knew. Call it mother’s intuition. All the signs were there but you do not want to believe it, really. You are waiting for the doctor to say you’re just being an over-protective mother. But it didn’t happen.”

The family leapt into action, quickly raising hundreds of thousands of pounds through events and a crowdfunding page.

But it was a Wear Red for Zac day that brought in the most money, and helped raise the profile of the campaign.

Schools and businesses across his home county of Shropshire, England and even as far out as New Zealand and America dressed in red and donated to the cause.

Thousands of people got involved, donating a pound or more to help the fundraising effort. The final total was reached thanks to donations by The X Factor’s Simon Cowell and an anonymous donor.

That meant Zac and his family were able to travel to America on November 13.

He travelled to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for the pioneering treatment, which sees cells from Zac’s own immune system genetically engineered to help fight the cancer. The cells are altered to recognise the specific protein on tumour cells, killing the cancer in the body.

Hannah that despite being the worst year imaginable, the generosity of the public has given her a renewed faith in people.

She said: “I’ve seen the worst of life in the last year, but I’ve also seen the best. The way people have helped with our campaign is incredible. As you go about life, you often question people’s morals or values but the campaign has shown me that, if people are given something they believe in and something they’d like to make a difference to, they’ll do anything.”