Amos Chipperfield died suddenly on April 4 after being diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March.
His father Nathan Chipperfield said they were told by two GPs that Amos had a chest infection, but he become concerned Amos was not responding to antibiotics so brought him to A&E. He was later diagnosed at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
They had been preparing for another round of chemotherapy, but Amos suddenly passed away.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Nathan this week. “It was quite a shock to everyone including the medical team because he had been responding quite well.”
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Nathan, 33, and his wife Charlotte, 35, said the school community had rallied to support them, to remember Amos’s impact on others.
Amos’s father said he remembered his son shouting across the street to strangers “I love you so and so” before school.
“He would always hold someone’s hand while walking into the school,” he said. “Whoever it was he’d just grab their hand and walk in with them.”
A Just Giving page set up by family friend Nikki Athwal has raised over £10,000 so far, with the money going to a playground memorial in Amos’s name.
“Amos loved music and dancing, that was one of his favourite things to do,” said his mother.
Charlotte said they planned to create a musical memorial, an area with instruments for school children to enjoy.
“He [Amos] would’ve loved to have played there and danced around,” she said.
Nathan, a music teacher, said Amos’s death had a significant impact on his classmates, but was hopeful the memorial would provide some uplift.
“It really affected his class,” Nathan said. “This tribute will be such a special thing for them as well.”
Children at the infant school have been doing a sponsored star jump challenge this week in an extra fundraising push to remember the boy they knew as Mossy.
“Everyone has been so supportive and excited about it,” said Charlotte.
“There’s a lot of people we don’t personally know who have donated,” she added.
You can donate to Amos’s memorial here.
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