When little Alex Squires did not want his birthday cake his parents knew something was wrong - but they had no idea of the nightmare which was about to unfold.

Their son began to feel unwell as the family celebrated his first birthday - and within days they were told he might not make it through the night.

Little Alex had been struck with a rare and aggressive form of Leukaemia, and his mum and dad Kirsten and Tim were told to prepare themselves for the worst.

But now, two and a half months later, they are hoping the nightmare is coming to an end as their son prepares for his fourth, and they hope final, course of chemotherapy.

And they are planning to take him to a special autumn fair in Ilkley on Saturday which has been organised by his nursery to raise money for the leukaemia charity the Candlelighters.

The event is being organised by Abacus Nursery, which Alex and his three-year-old brother Tom have attended since they were babies.

Mrs Squires, 28, said she and her husband, who is 33, had been touched by the nursery's decision to raise money for leukaemia research. And they are hoping that little Alex will be well enough to go along.

It is something they could hardly have dared hope for back in early July when medics told them their son might not survive.

He had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia at Airedale General Hospital on Monday July 5, just four days after his birthday. He is now receiving treatment at St James' University in Leeds.

Mrs Squires, an office manager, and her husband a computer programmer, were left reeling by the devastating speed of the illness which began on his first birthday.

She said: "He wouldn't eat his birthday cake so we knew there was something up."

"Then he swelled up and was panting a lot, and he wouldn't eat or drink."

On the day his leukaemia was diagnosed his white blood cell count was 190 - compared to a normal figure of just 11. The following morning the figure had shot up again to 380.

Mrs Squires said: "It was very, very serious. We were not sure he was going to survive. It was extremely aggressive.

Mr Squires added: "The next 48 hours were just absolute hell - I would not wish it on my worst enemy."

Since then Alex has undergone three bouts of intensive chemotherapy and is due to start his fourth, and hopefully final, bout on Monday.

During his weeks of treatment there have been times when his family again feared they might lose him.

On one occasion they had to make an emergency dash to hospital from their Utley home at 2am in the morning when his temperature shot up.

On another occasion he had to be rushed to intensive care after a period of seemingly good progress when his blood pressure slumped dangerously low and his heart rate went up

Mrs Squires said: "Two weeks ago Alex was happy and laughing, and overnight his blood pressure dropped and his heart rate went up, and his body started to shut down."

But the couple say their son keeps smiling throughout his ill health, and even managed a chuckle as his mother ran with him in her arms to intensive care.

Mr Squires said: "He laughed at me on the way. His heart rate was up to about 230 - but he still managed to laugh. Lots of things happen to him and he just comes back smiling."

Mr and Mrs Squires are staying at the hospital, taking it in turns to sleep at Alex's bedside while three-year-old Tom stays with his grandparents in Ilkley.

They have set up a website to keep friends and family informed of his progress, and say they are amazed to find that hundreds people are accessing the site, from as far away as Bahrain, Vietnam and America.

They say they have been touched by the level of support and concern from friends, family and strangers, as well as the dedication of the hospital staff.

And they were delighted when they found out that their children's nursery was planning a fund-raising event.

Abacus Deputy Manager Carol Palmer said: "Everybody just wanted to do something. The whole of the staff just wanted to help in some way. So the idea came up of doing an autumn fair."

Local businesses have rallied round to donate prizes to the event, which will also include cakes, balloons, toys and books.

The fair will be held at All Saints Church Hall from 10.30am to 12.30am on Saturday.