Meet Thomas Jackson, the cricket-mad 14-year-old raising money to help other children battling cancer

No parent should have to watch their son suffer from a brain tumour; no child should have to go through the experience.

For the cricket-mad Jackson family, however, this awful scenario became reality in early September and they’ve been coming to terms since. 

Thomas Jackson, a 14-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman at Hyde Cricket Club, who also represents Lancashire at underage level, was dealing with a sore head before an under-19 cup semi-final.  

As a fit and healthy teenager, Thomas thought little of it – a sip of water, a moment to steady himself and away he went, taking and excellent catch behind the stumps during the game. 

A while later, minutes after returning home, Thomas collapsed.

“Will (Thomas’ brother) was on the phone to the ambulance," dad Neil says.

“On the way to the hospital I was thinking ‘oh, it’s probably nothing. I got to the hospital, Thomas was still in his whites and the doctors said that it was probably nothing to worry about but they wanted a scan just to make sure. 

“Five or 10 minutes after the scan, the nurse asked if I wanted another coffee. I explained to her that I’d just had one and she asked again if I wanted another one. 

“When she said ‘have another brew’ that’s when I knew it was serious. We ended up going from Tameside Hospital to Manchester Children’s Hospital. They weren’t hanging around – it only took them eight minutes to get there. After another scan upon arrival, they confirmed it was medulloblastoma.”

_{Thomas played for Lancashire in India in 2019 (credit for all images: Neil Jackson)}

Thomas had three surgeries in the space of two weeks to try and remove the tumour, and though 95 per cent is now gone, intense chemotherapy and proton beam therapy continue.

The Christie Hospital in Manchester is the only place in the UK to offer proton beam therapy. Thomas qualified to receive the treatment through the NHS but if he hadn’t, the family would’ve had to fork out for private treatment in Germany at a cost of £40,000. 

“Up until Thomas got ill, I was saving up for a new watch but I don’t give a monkey's about the watch anymore,” Jackson says. “We had money saved for a rainy day, and I guess this is the rainy day."

Jackson brought his children up by teaching them that they should always help those who are less fortunate than themselves. Thomas remembered this shortly after his last surgery and told his dad that he wanted to do something to help the other kids affected by this cruel disease. 

Jackson says: “I remember Thomas turning to me and asking ‘will I lose my hair?’. We never tell Thomas that he has cancer – we just say that he has a lump or a cyst. The nurses told us that he’d understand enough. 

“I then said ‘why don’t we get some bobby hats’ – Thomas loved the idea. Off the back of that we sent messages, got onto Twitter and it went from there.” 

The Standing Up Foundation was born – the name inspired by Thomas's role as a wicketkeeper, and his bravery in standing up to cancer. 

The initial goal was to raise £1,000 to buy bobby hats and caps for children at the Christie, where Thomas is living during his treatment. They have received almost £10,000 in donations at the time of writing as well as thousands of caps and hats. 

“When you see people giving £3.50, you’re thinking ‘that’s mega,’ – if you can afford to put in £500, £300, £200 or ever £50 or £10, it doesn’t matter; it’s the thought that someone has gone on and thought ‘I’m going to give some money to that.’ Kindness breeds kindness as they say.” 

_{Thomas scored his first century for Lancashire last year}

The family hit their target in the first night and they didn’t know what to do next. Do they keep it open? Do they close it?  

“We spoke to a couple of McMillan nurses, who have been amazing. They said ‘keep it open for a week and see where you get to.’  

“This is where it went mad – you keep checking your phone and it keeps making noises. Email after email from JustGiving ‘£50, £100, £200’.  

“We all spoke about it and Thomas obviously wants to raise as much money as he can. He turned around to us and said ‘dad, I’d like to finish the page on the day of my last treatment at the Christie if I can and we’ll ring the bell.’” 

New Balance, Gray Nicholls, Gunn & Moore and Blackrat Cricket in Headingley have all donated caps, hats and kit to help others or to be auctioned off to help raise even more money. 

“We’re just a normal family that have been overwhelmed by generosity. We have over two or three thousand bobby hats.  

Through New Balance, Joe Root has sent Thomas a private video and that has spiraled – Jos Buttler has sent a video, the whole Lancashire team have sent a video, even Shane Warne has sent his well wishes. 

“Liam Burns at New Balance contacted me through a friend of a friend and the next thing there were 500 hats and the full England kit for Thomas.  

“I sent him a video of Thomas walking and he sent it on to Joe Root and Root said he’d love to meet him; Steve Smith wants to say hello too.” 

Former England and Gloucestershire wicketkeeper, Jack Russell, sent a painting to Thomas. The message read: “From one keeper, to another!” 

_{The painting received from Jack Russell}

Lancashire gloveman and family friend Alex Davies says Thomas’s courage is nothing short of incredible. 

“For us (at Lancashire Cricket), it’s about letting Tommy know that everyone at the club is behind him, not just from a club point of view but from a friendship point of view. We’re wicketkeepers – we’re fighters, aren’t we? 

“We get videos of his progress and we want to make sure that we’re with him every step of the way – spreading awareness and raising money.” 

Dad Neil reserved special praise for his son's school - Audenshaw High School for Boys.

“The school have been amazing. The headmistress Jeanette Saw and the board of governors have both been on the phone offering their kind words of support.” 

With all the kindness that the Jackson family has received, Neil explained that they want to do even more than they already are. 

“I said to my wife that I want to do more. She looked at me and went ‘what do you mean?’ – I explained that we have a lot of people helping us and I want to help as many people as I can. 

“We’re going to do a charity bike ride for Ronald McDonald House. We’ll start at Durham and visit all the county grounds that Thomas has played at. Some people have already said that they’ll join us. I would love one player from each county to join us – it’ll take a lot of planning.” 

The experience has been a traumatic one for the Jackson family, but their spirits have been carried by small acts of kindness along the way, one of the most heart-warming involves a concierge at the Christie named Michael. 

Neil explains: “Every day he comes in and says ‘Hey Thomas, how are you? How is cricket?’ Coming from Eritrea, he doesn’t know a thing about cricket – but he comes in and says ‘I love cricket, I play for Lancashire.’ It realty puts a smile on Thomas’ face.” 

Neil would like to thank JP Bolton, Dave Leighton, Liam Burns, Alex Davies, Keaton Jennings, Lancashire Cricket, Hyde Cricket Club, Denton St Lawrence Cricket Club, Broadbottom Cricket Club, everyone at Curzon Ashton Football Club, all the staff who have helped at The Christie and Manchester Children’s Hospital, the whole family circle and everyone who has donated so far.  

You can donate to the cause by clicking here.