James Green, or ‘Jamie’ as he prefers to be called, is from Amersham in Buckinghamshire and has been diagnosed with a highly aggressive malignant type of brain cancer. His family and friends are desperately trying to raise £250,000 by 01 October 2013 for him to have life saving treatment in America.
Jamie’s story
On 19 July 2013 Jamie’s parents received the devastating news that their only son had a lesion within his cerebellum and required an immediate operation to remove it. Jamie was transferred to The John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where he received emergency surgery to remove the cancerous growth from his brain. The tumour measured over 4cm in size.
Following the operation a second blow hit the family. Jamie was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma – an aggressive type of malignant brain tumour and life limiting condition. Jamie’s oncology team reported that whilst there were no physical signs of other tumours, the scans had identified that possible cancer cells had travelled to the base of Jamie’s spine (a condition known as metastatic).
The outlook was suddenly very grim as Jamie faced an aggressive programme of chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy. Two weeks after the initial brain surgery Jamie began his treatment plan.
Jamie’s parents, having discussed the likely side effects of traditional radiotherapy treatment with their son’s oncologist, began researching all types of treatment. They were introduced to UK charity Kids n Cancer and soon discovered proton treatment, which is based around similar principals of applying radiation to the entire brain and spine but crucially it is much kinder and less harmful to the body, especially that of a developing child. It creates little to no collateral damage to other organs, healthy tissue or bone structure, compared to traditional radiotherapy.
The use of Proton therapy is relatively new and therefore whilst the NHS recognise the benefits it can bring, the UK’s treatment centres are not due to be completed until 2016. The sad fact is that this is too late to save Jamie. Jamie’s parents have received encouraging news that several proton treatment facilities in the USA are able to accept their son for treatment. Such treatment must be paid for in advance and the NHS is unable to fund it.
Anita Green, Jamie’s mother spoke of the fundraising campaign: ‘We understand that times are tight for many people across the country and all we ask is that if you are unable to donate in support of our cause, please, please, please, share this with your family, friends and colleagues. Thank you.”
Together we will beat Jamie’s cancer
Help a brave British boy aged 13 years in his fight against brain cancer
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How to help:
Donate via Just Giving – www.justgiving.com/jamiesfund
Like on Facebook – www.facebook.com/jamiesfund
Follow on Twitter – www.twitter.com/jamiesfund