Northampton schoolboy with rare cancer to be mascot and programme cover star for Cobblers game

A Northampton schoolboy battling a rare cancer will be a mascot and a programme cover star at Cobblers this weekend.

In August 2022, Jesse Mansfield was diagnosed at Northampton General Hospital with high risk Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), which affects around 100 children a year.

The brave 10-year-old Weston Favell Primary School pupil has since been in hospital in Nottingham and Birmingham for a large portion of time since he was diagnosed after doctors told him and his family that he was in the 'high risk category' of AML patients.

However, a gap in treatment gives him the opportunity to be a mascot at Sixfields on Saturday (January 21) when Cobblers take on Mansfield Town. Jesse will meet Jon Brady and the squad, including his favourite player Sam Hoskins, and help lead the team out. He will even be the front cover star of the matchday programme.

The club is looking forward to welcoming Jesse and his family.

Last year, Jesse’s parents set up an online fundraising page, which is ongoing, as if a bone marrow transplant is not possible, the family say their next best option is paying for chemotherapy treatment in the USA or the Far East, which is not available on the NHS and would cost cmore than £250,000.

Parents Dave and Zoe previously said: "Reaching out and asking for help is something we’ve never done and wouldn‘t ever want to have to do - we now have no choice but to do just that, we need help and lots of it. We will do everything in our power to help save our beautiful boy and what we need to do now is ask for the kindness of others.

"These funds will help to cover some of the costs that we will face in seeking potential treatment abroad and also to cover contingency costs should Jesse need more complicated treatments or prolonged hospital stays as well."

The fundraising target of £250,000 has already been achieved, however the fundraising page remains open for support.

Jesse’s school hosted a ‘Jesse Day’ last year to help raise funds to the sum of more than £3,000.