Kind Chesterfield boy swims 1.5km in just over an hour in honour of his mum and King Charles' cancer battles

Rex Morley, from Holmewood, decided to take on the challenge in honour of mum Kirsty Morley’s recovery and after hearing about King Charles’ diagnosis.

He completed the swim this weekend at Eckington Swimming Pool as part of the national Swimathon event, raising money for Cancer Research UK and Marie Curie.

Mum Kirsty, 42, described how the distance was the “next level” for keen swimmer Rex.

She said: “He’s never swum that far before. As an eight-year-old boy, that amount of money is, like, such an amazing amount of money and he can’t believe he’s done it.

"But for him it’s more about the swimming because he loves his swimming, so he’s totally overwhelmed by the fact that he did it all in one go.

"He’s really proud himself.”

Dental hygiene therapist Kirsty is still receiving oral chemotherapy following a mastectomy after being diagnosed with estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer in February 2022.

Speaking about the experience and “kind, intelligent and funny” Rex, she said: “We never used the C-word (with Rex) because it’s such a scary word.

"He knew I had a lump and I had to have surgery and medicine to stop it coming back.

"But the other week he mentioned about the King and I think he kind of gets it, but when I mentioned about my lump I think he was more bothered about the King.

"I’m so proud of him, he always goes above and beyond – for him to do this for himself and to know and understand what he was doing it for.”

Anyone wanting to make a donation for Rex’s swim can do so by visiting his JustGiving page.