LOGAN’S HOPE FOR U.S. HELP
Seven year-old cancer patient jets off
A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy with an aggressive form of cancer will spend months thousands of miles from home as he gets treatment in the USA.
Logan Sellers, who also has cerebral palsy, was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) after a lump developed behind his right eye, pushing it an inch away from his face.
The youngster, who lives in Talybont, near Bangor, with dad James and twin sister Francheska, started chemotherapy at Manchester Children’s Hospital in the summer but will be travelling to Jacksonville, Florida, for proton laser therapy.
James said: “He woke up one morning and his eye was puffy, like when a child is tired.
“For three weeks it was treated as a bleed behind his eye, and then I got a phone call saying he needed to be taken to Manchester hospital immediately.
“He’s been having three-day ses- sions of chemotherapy every three weeks in Manchester and it’s made him very poorly. He’s also having night sweats and nightmares.
“I’ve explained to him that he’s not very well and that he needs special medicine to make him better which is what made his hair fall out, but I’ve not explained the severity of cancer and what it can do to you.
James, who shaved his head in support of his son, added: “We’re actually lucky the lump grew forward and not backwards in to his brain, and we’re very lucky that we caught it quickly.”
Logan, his sister and their dad will leave for America on November 10 and will be there for up to 10 weeks.
James added: “At the moment we just have to take each day as it comes, because from one day to the next we don’t know how Logan is going to react to his treatment.
“I haven’t accepted that he has cancer – it’s like I’m pretending it’s not my son when I’m talking about it.
“It’s all happened so quickly so I’ve not really had the opportunity to acknowledge what’s really happening to my little boy.
“He’s been with me 24/7 since he got ill, he’s been very clingy with me and doesn’t want me to go anywhere – I suppose I’m his rock.
“He gets very nervous doing anything out of his comfort zone at the moment. This diagnosis really has destroyed normal life for him.”
A gofundme page has now been set up by Susan Pritchard, Logan’s step-grandmother, to raise funds for living costs while they are in the US.
Susan said: “Logan’s dad is self employed and although NHS England are funding the treatment, they will be over there for two to three months so they will have general living costs. No family should have to worry about money whilst their child is ill.”
James’ cousin and his mother also plan to shave their heads to raise money for the trip. Visit gofundme.com/2pkfa3w to donate.