‘It feels strange to be doing it, but we need financial help to save our child’
BID TO FUND PRIVATE CANCER TREATMENT
PARENTS of an 11-year-old girl who was diagnosed with a brain tumour earlier this year are frustrated that they cannot access a pioneering treatment for her condition.
Grace Kelly, from Oadby, attended an opticians appointment with her mum, Vanessa, in August when she was unexpectedly referred for an emergency MRI scan.
Doctors found swelling on her brain that was diagnosed, following surgery, as a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumour and, shortly after, she began a six-week course of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
But shortly before the treatment, Grace’s family were given more bad news.
“Just before her cancer treatment began, she had another MRI scan which revealed the tumour had grown back,” Vanessa said.
“I was devastated. Not only had it grown back, but another smaller tumour had also developed.”
The severity of the type of tumour means it grows quickly and is harder to treat.
Healthcare assistant Vanessa and her husband John, 42, began researching brain tumours and joined various groups online, desperate for more support, where they learned about immunotherapy.
This is a type of treatment that stimulates the body’s natural immune system to destroy cancer cells – but there are no such treatments approved for treating brain tumours available on the NHS.
Vanessa said: “A lot of people on our online groups have done it and it seems to have been successful.
“I find it shocking and frustrating that it’s not available in the UK.
“There is something that might be able to help her but we can’t access it.”
Vanessa, 32, and John have set up a Just Giving page, hoping to raise £200,000 to access the treatment at a clinic in Germany.
Although they know there is no cure for Grace’s tumour at the moment, her parents said they “don’t want to give up”.
Sharing Grace’s story on their Just Giving page, the pair said Grace is undergoing care at a Midlands hospital, where “her chemoradiotherapy is tough but she rarely complains.
“The staff are great and we appreciate all they are doing. However, this treatment on its own is not enough, to beat this aggressive cancer we need to take a holistic approach.
“Grace is our oldest child, she has two younger siblings who adore her, she is their big sister.
“As a family, it has really hit us and has been hard to accept, it’s an emotional rollercoaster of fear, pain, hope and love for our daughter.”
The £200,000 would cover diagnostics and personalised vaccines and treatments.
Vanessa said: “We have never asked anyone for anything, and it feels strange to be doing this, but we need financial help to save our child.”
Brain tumours kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer, but historically, just 1 per cent of the national spend on cancer research is allocated to the disease.
Hugh Adams, of cancer charity Brain Tumour Research, said: “This is such a devastating story, and we are so very sorry to hear of Grace’s terrible diagnosis.
“More must be done to develop treatments and improve outcomes for patients like Grace.
“We desperately need to increase investment in research into brain tumours, as this is how we will find more effective treatments for brain tumour patients and, ultimately, a cure.”
As of yesterday, the fund stood at just over £4,400. To donate, search “Vanessa Kelly” (use quote marks) at: