I'm making an exception this time though - for a very special little boy named Frank. He's my cousin's son and he's two. A right little ray of sunshine and a cheeky chops at the same time.
Unfortunately back in February, what started off as a swollen eye turned out to be a devastating diagnosis of Neuroblastoma. Yup. After a few weeks of everyone telling my cousin not to worry, he'd be OK etc (as you do), her worst fears came true. And it's not just any old cancer (if there is such a thing). Nope. Only about a hundred children a year are diagnosed and they are usually under five years old.
Frank has already had 80 hours of chemo and surgery. He is now undergoing more high dose chemo, then looks forward to radio therapy, stem cell transplant surgery then immunotherapy. Sadly, almost half of neuroblastomas will return and the children need further treatment.
The good news is that there's a vaccine that can help prevent a relapse. The bad news is that it's not funded by the NHS and it's not available in the UK. The cost to take a child to the US for treatment (travel and treatment) is a staggering £200,000 ($260,000).
His parents have set up a fund-raising page, and they are trying to raise that amount in ten months, which is when Frank will need the vaccine. The fund-raising is being done through the Bradley Lowery foundation which is a registered charity in the UK. In the five days since the page has been live, the response from friends and acquaintances has been truly amazing. We need to keep the momentum going though, as we are only at 3% of the amount needed to give Frank the best chance.
So - I'm pleading. If you have a spare bit of coin, please consider donating to Frank's Fight. If not, please help spread the word for this gorgeous little boy.
Thank you my friends.
