Parents of boy with cancer in desperate plea to raise funds

FAMILY NEED £340K TO PAY FOR CUTTING-EDGE TREATMENT IN USA

THE parents of a Northwood boy who has been battling cancer since he was five are raising money so their son can get life-saving treatment.

Ammaar Dadlani was diagnosed with bone cancer in June 2018 and has been told by doctors chemotherapy alone will no longer cure him.

The seven-year-old’s family are now trying to raise around £340,000 so he can undergo cutting-edge treatment in America.

Parents Ritesh and Naheed Dadlani said the past 18 months have been “really tough”.

“It’s been a real rollercoaster, to be honest,” said Mr Dadlani.

“From the time he got diagnosed, it took us a while to accept that [Ammaar had cancer] and as things progressed we had to face up to reality.

“Sometimes you would wake up fresh and feel fine, but then you would realise the reality. It’s been really tough.

“There has been a lot of pressure on us in a lot of different ways and we are just trying to get through it.”

In June 2018, Ammaar complained of being in pain after falling over while playing with his two brothers at home, where he lives with his parents, brothers and grandparents.

He was taken for an X-ray and a 9.6cm tumour was detected in his left leg. A needle biopsy carried out a week later confirmed the diagnosis – highgrade osteoblastic osteosarcoma, stage 2B. Within two weeks Ammaar started treatment and he went through nine sessions of aggressive chemotherapy at University College Hospital.

He then underwent limb salvage surgery, where doctors remove the area of bone containing the cancer, at Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. That was followed by nine further sessions of chemotherapy, which ended in February 2019.

Ammaar and his family were told the cancer had disappeared and they “left the hospital thinking he was cured”.

Ammaar began to enjoy life and even went back to school.

Mr Dadlani said: “We noticed a small lump on his right collarbone and after several scans and another needle biopsy, the doctors confirmed the tumour was back, and it had managed to re-appear in a completely different part of his body.

“When we were told, initially we couldn’t believe it. We were stunned. We broke down when we got home as it slowly sank in.”

Mr Dadlani provided one example of how the life of a bright young man has been turned upside down.

“We celebrated Ammaar’s sixth birthday with his friends and he was in a wheelchair,” the boy’s father recalls.

“He was in his football jersey but he couldn’t play. His friends were running around playing football but he was stuck in his wheelchair. He kept saying, ‘This is the worst birthday.’ It was terrible, but we couldn’t do anything.”

Ammaar’s right collarbone was surgically removed on September 9 and another surgery followed six weeks later to remove another tumour.

However, scans in November highlighted several new tumours throughout his body – in his ankle, hip, lower back, lungs, shoulder and chest.

His family want to fly to America so Ammaar can undergo CAR-T Cell immunotherapy treatment, which they have been told will give him a better chance of beating cancer.

However, this treatment costs $450,000 – around £340,000 – and is not available on the NHS nor in the UK.

“He’s at the end of the road with his treatment in the UK,” said Mr Dadlani, “The last two rounds of chemotherapy have not been very effective.

“It’s vital that he gets the treatment.” The family have set up a Gofundme page in the hope they can raise the money needed. So far, more than £175,000 has been raised.

It is believed that due to Ammaar’s condition, the family will have to fly to America by the end of February or, at the latest, end of March.

Ammaar Dadlani was diagnosed with bone cancer when he was five years old