A Fife schoolboy who lost a kidney to cancer has been chosen as a charity pin-up boy.
Milo Carter from Auchtertool is the face of the UK’s biggest and longest running charity clothes collection, Give Up Clothes for Good.
He is the poster boy for the initiative, a partnership between TK Maxx and Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens which raises money for research to beat children’s cancers sooner.
This month primary one pupil Milo, who has just celebrated his sixth birthday, features in shop windows in all 269 TK Maxx stores across the UK as well as more than 500 Cancer Research UK shops.
Milo is one of around 300 children in Scotland who are diagnosed with cancer every year and proof of just how crucial new discoveries and breakthroughs are to help more children survive.
He had surgery at 72 hours old to mend a hole in his heart, but was diagnosed with tumours in both kidneys, his lungs and liver in April 2013.
A surgeon at Great Ormond Street hospital succeeded in saving 90% of his right kidney, then chemotherapy and radiotherapy at Edinburgh Sick Children’s hospital helped make Milo clear of cancer.
Mum Sarah said: “It’s thanks to research into children’s cancers and an amazing medical team that Milo is here today.
“Nothing knocks Milo. After coping with all the treatment with remarkable bravery, strength and resilience, I’m so proud he is the face of Give Up Clothes for Good.”
Now Milo and his family are calling on Scots to support Give Up Clothes for Good and help save the lives of more youngsters by dropping off any unwanted clothing, accessories and quality homeware in the permanent bins provided in TK Maxx stores.
When resold in Cancer Research UK shops, each bag could be worth around £30 to the charity and help fund vital research in to cures and kinder treatments for cancers affecting children, teens and young adults.
TK Maxx launched Give Up Clothes for Good in 2004 and since then has raised around £19.7 million for Cancer Research UK.
Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens spokeswoman for Scotland Lisa Adams said: “Cancer has a devastating impact on children, forcing them to show bravery beyond their years.
“We are very grateful to Milo and her parents for helping to show the difference research can make.
“Today three quarters of under-15s with the disease are cured compared with a quarter in the late 1960s.”