‘Please help to save brave Leo, 4’
THE uncle of a little boy who has suffered FIVE brain tumours has made a heartfelt plea as he tries to raise £150,000 for groundbreaking treatment in America to save his life.
Four-year-old Leo Bermejo was diagnosed with cancer when he was just two, and after three major brain surgeries to get rid of three tumours, five bouts of chemotherapy, a stroke and then developing septicaemia, another two more tumours have returned.
His heartbroken uncle Sean Keefe along with Leo’s parents, Karen Keefe and Jorge Bermejo, are trying to raise the large amount of cash to save Leo’s life.
The treatment, which is set to make it over to the UK later this year, known as proton beam therapy is a much more targeted form of radiotherapy which will hopefully only target the tumours meaning the side effects will be less aggressive for the youngster.
Without the monthlong ●●Leo Bermejo in hospital course of treatment, he may die.
The tumours will be operated on in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital this week, but the therapy has to be completed within just weeks of that operation.
That means there are only a matter of days to raise the cash.
Speaking about his nephew, Sean, of Cheadle Hulme, said: “This really is Leo’s last hope for a life. He can’t speak because of the stoke and has to be fed through a tube in his stomach. I just don’t know how much more he can take.
“He is so happy and just wants to play. But he has been through so much.”
The family, all originally from the Isle of Man, separated with his sister moving to Spain where she currently lives and Sean moving to Manchester ten years ago.
He owns Strength and Performance gym in Stockport, and will be putting on fundraisers in the next few weeks.
Leo’s mother wrote on the fundraising page: “If we can’t fund this, then Leo will have to have conventional therapy and be destined for a lifetime of disabilities and problems. He will never be able to live on his own or do anything for himself.
“With this new therapy, he can still progress, he will still have the chance to learn again, to move his right side, speak again, he wont have problems that will affect his organs in the future. It is a no brainer ..... we have to do this, TEAM LEO! Let’s hit this target!”
Sean added: “We want him to have a normal life and enjoy life as any fouryear-old child would.”
Anyone wanting to donate can visit the fundraising website here gofundme.com/leothelion3 to donate.