Million dollar appeal to help Darci get treatment

Family of brave Fife youngster critically ill with leukaemia pinning their hopes on lifesaving cell therapy in US

A $1 million appeal to send a Fife girl critically ill in Saudi Arabia to the US for lifesaving treatment hit the £50,000 mark in less than 24 hours.

Darci Jackson, six, suffered a second relapse, having battled aggressive leukaemia since she was two years old and chemotherapy is no longer enough to fight the disease.

Parents Graeme and Amanda desperately want to take her from their home in the Middle East, to America, for lifesaving treatment and need to raise the equivalent of £800,000.

They were given the devastating news earlier this week that her treatment had failed again and their heart-rending campaign has gone viral on social media.

Graeme, 42, told The Courier: “On Tuesday we didn’t think she was going to make it. She is now stable on medication in ICU and they are trying to bring it under control.

“She was on her last three sessions of chemotherapy then she would have had a month of radiotherapy and gone into the maintenance stage but she relapsed and it overcame her in a day.

“This is her second relapse, a complete bone marrow relapse, and once you get to this stage the chemotherapy is not going to cut it anymore. The cells are building up resistance.”

CAR-T cell therapy, a type of gene therapy, is only approved for use in the US and comes with a high price tag.

With Darci in a critical condition, her oncology team are trying desperately to get her back into remission so she can undergo a bone marrow transplant followed by the breakthrough treatment.

Graeme, who works for an oil and gas company, said: “There is a high chance of success. Hopefully, it will give her full remission.”

He and Amanda, 42, are overwhelmed by the response to their appeal, with some donors pledging four-figure sums.

Graeme said: “It is amazing and we can’t thank everyone enough for their generous donations.”

The couple emigrated from their home in Kirkcaldy with Darci and her brother and sister Daniel, 13, and Sienna, 11, in 2015.

Although excited, Darci was clingy and unsettled and after a fall they took her to a doctor thinking she may have a head injury.

She was taken to hospital that day and remained there for seven weeks, having fallen ill very rapidly.

Graeme said: “We moved here to start a new life in the sun and two weeks after we arrived we got the devastating news Darci had leukaemia.”

Darci has been on treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia throughout the three-and-a-half years, suffering numerous complications.

She has braved countless blood transfusions, scans, bone marrow tests and lumbar punctures with “a fantastic smile” and a positive attitude, giving her parents the strength to carry on.

She has had only periods of a few weeks at a time where she is well enough to go out and enjoy herself.

Graeme said: “Eight weeks ago we were in Cyprus for a break and she was great. That’s how quickly she deteriorated.”

The appeal deadline is October 1 and any surplus money raised will be donated to a leukaemia charity.

There is a high chance of success. Hopefully, it will give her full remission. GRAEME JACKSON

Always smiling – Darci Jackson has bravely endured numerous complications from the leukaemia. Now her family are trying to raise $1m to take her to America for lifesaving treatment.