A FLINTSHIRE mother has raised over £2,000 via a charity ball in memory of her seven-year-old son who died last year.

Aaron Wharton died at Hope House Hospice in Tŷ Gobaith on Sunday, April 9 2023 with parents Nicola and Lee by his side.

That came after Aaron was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive anaplastic ependymoma in April 2020.

Following his death, his family vowed to 'keep his memory alive' and, as part of that, a charity ball was held at Fairfield Hall in Connah's Quay on Saturday (May 18).

Mum Nicola, who set up the Fundraising Group Aaron’s Army, chose a villains’ theme.

That was due to Aaron having “loved all things Disney and especially the villain characters" - like Tamatoa from Moana and Captain Hook from Peter Pan and it was his wish to have a villains party.

Sadly, Aaron died before his parents were able to grant his wish.

So instead, family, parents of Aaron’s friends and even teachers from Southdown Primary School which Aaron attended, came together at the Villains Ball last weekend.

Over £2,000 was raised for the Brain Tumour Research charity as a result.

Many came dressed in costume, with Nicola dressed as Mother Gothel from Tangled (Rapunzel’s evil foster mother) and Rachel Moore, who was Aaron’s teacher when he had his first surgery and has attended all of Aaron’s Army’s events so far, as The Queen of Hearts.

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Aaron was diagnosed with an anaplastic ependymoma brain tumour, aged four, after initially being misdiagnosed with Bell’s palsy. He spent 10 weeks in hospital undergoing two surgeries and developing meningitis twice.

Despite also undergoing proton beam therapy (a more targeted form of radiotherapy) and chemotherapy, nothing could save Aaron and he passed away on 9 April 2023.

During the fun-filled evening at the ball, Nicola took the time to thank all her guests for “helping to fulfil a little boy’s wish”.

Especially her friend Dianne Wood, who came dressed as Winifred Sanderson from Hocus Pocus, and Dianne’s daughter Ellis Wilson as Hades, who both gave Nicola so much support in the organisation of the ball.

She said: “I never envisaged how much work goes into organising a charity ball and couldn’t have done it without the help of these two lovely ladies. It's been such an incredible night – so many people felt Aaron was here with us. He would have adored all the fantastic costumes and would have relished dressing up – probably as Tamatoa!

“Since setting up Aaron’s Army just a year ago when we held a Fire Walk also at Wrexham FC’s stadium with the incredible support of people like you, I’m proud that we’ve raised close to £40,000, enough to sponsor the equivalent of 14 days of research.”

Nicola was also grateful for all the help she had from Farfield Hall manager Mandy Lloyd, to DJ Paul Griffiths for his amazing music and to all who donated auction and raffle prizes, especially Llinos Strickley for donating her beautiful Y Goedwig cottage in Anglesey for a cosy winter break.

Louise Aubrey, community development manager for Brain Tumour Research, said: “We’re really grateful to Nicola and all who support Aaron’s Army for their incredible fundraising efforts which are helping to make a difference for patients diagnosed with brain tumours.

“Brain Tumour Research is focused on funding research to find more effective treatments and ultimately a cure for all types of brain tumour.”