Oscar’s back in hospital
Setback for cancer boy who thousands queued to save in stem cell plea
THE parents of cancer survivor Oscar Saxelby-Lee have revealed their ‘absolute devastation’ after he went back to hospital on New Year’s Eve.
Olivia Saxelby, 26, and Jamie Lee, 28, shared the heartbreaking update just days after enjoying a family Christmas at home with their brave six-year-old.
Oscar won the hearts of the nation after beating a rare form of childhood leukaemia thanks to pioneering treatment in Singapore paid for by well-wishers.
But just two months after he was pictured back at school with his classmates in Worcester, Miss Saxelby told on Thursday how her ‘little warrior’ was again facing uncertainty.
She shared pictures of her son lying in a hospital bed with a cannula in his arm on the Hand in Hand for Oscar Facebook page.
‘Unfortunately, this is the way we are entering 2021. We are absolutely devastated,’ wrote Miss Saxelby. ‘ Not because of the date or the timing, nor because of how horrid it is to be going into a new year separated, but because our boy doesn’t deserve any more pain.
‘ He doesn’t deserve to be inside these walls. He doesn’t deserve to be hooked up to these lines AGAIN! He doesn’t deserve to go through any trauma at all!
‘We have no clear answers yet. We do not know what tomorrow will bring. Please keep our little warrior in your hearts.’
Days earlier, the page – used to update well-wishers – featured heartwarming pictures of him opening Christmas presents.
In October, Oscar was able to play with friends at Pitmaston Primary School during two 20-minute visits. They were the first steps in a phased return to lessons following his December 2018 diagnosis with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
While Oscar is more vulnerable to coronavirus, headteacher Kate Wilcock told the Mail he was not classed as being in the most at-risk group. Working with his parents, the school had planned to build up his visits in the run-up to Christmas. In February 2019, Oscar had been given just three months to find a stem cell donor when his leukaemia worsened, prompting his school and a cancer charity to organise a drop-in centre for potential helpers.
Some 4,855 people queued for hours to see if they might be a match while another 5,000 showed up at two similar events in Worcester city centre.
When a match was found and Oscar successfully came through a stem cell transplant later that spring, his parents dared to dream that the worst was over.
But Miss Saxelby, who gave up a teaching assistant job to care for Oscar, and builder Mr Lee were devastated when the disease returned in autumn 2019.
The NHS said it could not fund pioneering CAR-T cell therapy or a second transplant within 12 months of an initial transplant.
Miss Saxelby and Mr Lee then appealed for £500,000 to send Oscar to Singapore for the therapy, in which a patient’s immune cells are reprogrammed to target the cancer. The target was met in October within only three weeks and he was able to have the treatment in late 2019.
In January last year, tests showed Oscar was no longer exhibiting signs of cancer.
He left hospital in April after suffering no further complications and flew back to the UK in June where he has since been under the care of Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
‘Our little warrior’