YOUNG cancer patients are ringing in their homecoming with a newly installed bell.

The ‘end of treatment bell’ in the paediatric unit of Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone aims to give children a fancy way of celebrating the end of their hospital stay.

Adam Guffar, of Leyton, recently finished three years of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

He said: “I had no idea that staff on the ward had planned for me to ring the bell so it was a great surprise when they asked me to.

“Ringing it felt like an accomplishment, a small act that gave me a huge feeling that I had achieved something.

“My treatment at the hospital couldn’t have been better and staff were more than just friendly, they were like family and I always felt safe in their care.”

Kristy Mckeon, paediatric haematology and oncology specialist nurse at Whipps Cross Hospital, said: “The end of cancer treatment when people get to go home is a happy occasion and we wanted our younger patients to do something to mark it.

“We decided to install the bell on the ward so that patients can ring it and have a psychological boost as they leave hospital.”