A five-year-old boy is determined to "flush cancer down the toilet" so he can grow up to be like his hero – Spider-Man.

Frankie Clements, of Corfield Close, Barnet, was diagnosed with two tumours near his stomach just one month after starting primary school last October.

Since then, he has undergone three “brutal” rounds of chemotherapy in an attempt to destroy the masses, known as neuroblastoma, which have left him exhausted and too unwell to go to school.

In his home, the C word is banned and is instead referred to as ‘caterpillars’ or ‘wiggly wiggly worms’.

Frankie, a pupil at Garfield School in Enfield, said: “I have two caterpillars in my tummy so we have to get them out with chemotherapy.

“When we get them out, we are going to flush them down the toilet. I don’t think they would make good pets.

“When I get older I am going to work as Spider-Man, so I can spin my web and help people get better."

But if becoming Spider-Man does not work out, Frankie will fall back on his other passion - the guitar.

His mother, Caroline Kelly, who has seven other children, first noticed something was wrong when Frankie had a persistent high temperature.

She was unable to get an appointment with the doctor, but a nurse said he was probably recovering from a throat infection.

When his class teacher said that Frankie had not been himself, Ms Kelly insisted on seeing a doctor, who arranged a blood test.

The 46-year-old said: “At the back of my mind, I just knew it was cancer. When they broke the news, my whole world crashed. It was hell.

“But the bravery he has shown in all of this is astounding.”

Frankie was admitted to Barnet Hospital and later, Great Ormond Street Hospital, where he underwent MRI scans and a biopsy.

But during surgery, doctors ruptured his bowel and he ended up spending less than a month in hospital – coming out on his fifth birthday on November 13.

The five rounds of chemotherapy he has had so far have caused him to lose his hair – but he refuses to wear a bandana because he is “proud” of his head.

The playful five-year-old is due to have one more round of chemotherapy and in March, will have an operation to remove what is left of the tumours.

Doctors say the prognosis is good but that Frankie lost an adrenal gland during treatment – if he loses a second, he will be forced to have hormone replacement therapy for the rest of his life.

Ms Kelly, who lives with Frankie’s father, her partner, Christopher Clements, said: “He keeps asking when they are going to cut his belly open to remove the caterpillars but we haven’t told him yet.

"His personality has changed a bit since all of this – he has become more affectionate but also he hasn’t got much patience anymore – but he is still the same Frankie I have always known and loved.

“He makes me laugh and he is easy going, kind and caring. I call him my Superman – even if he does prefer Spider-Man.”

Ms Kelly is now raising money for Cancer Research UK in tribute to her son, and is planning on running the Race for Life with her eldest daughter, Charlotte, in the summer.

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