Islander, Simon Ellis, explains why his family needs to raise £100,000. In his own words, Ed
My son, Joe, was diagnosed with primary mediastinum large B cell lymphoma in June 2013. He has been through various treatments of chemotherapy and radiotherapy over the last year and has come to the end of his regular treatment without hearing the magic words of remission.
We have been offered a special treatment called Brintuximab which is used in cases like Joe’s but usually in America.
Licence granted
Our consultant has applied for a licence to use this treatment in the UK and on Joseph as he is still a child. The licence has been granted we just needed to apply for the funding.
The UK panel who agree funding have Joe’s application, but don’t meet until July.
Southampton Hospital funding three treatments
On hearing this, our consultant has approached Southampton hospital who have agreed to fund three doses of treatment on compassionate grounds.
We were advised to raise the rest in case the UK panel doesn’t agree with our application.
£100,000 needed for 13 treatments
Now the emotional request, I need to raise £100,000 to cover the remaining 13 treatments that Joe will need.
The initial funding is for Joe, if we then get medically funded or raise more than we need, we will donate the cash raised to other Island children who are in this situation, to ease the financial burden.
If you are willing to donate please email me ([email protected]) so I can pass you details of the Joe Ellis trust fund account. We’d welcome anyone looking to raise funds through fundraising activities.
Please find it in yourselves to help out in any way you can. I thank you in advance for any assistance you can give.
