Boy’s cancer fund hits £600k...thanks to you!
A BRAVE 10-year-old boy is heading to America for potentially life-saving cancer treatment after Sunday Express readers helped his family reach a fund-raising target.
Celebrities including England rugby stars have backed the battle to give Harry Banks the chance of life.
His family had been trying to raise £500,000 for Harry to have radical treatment to make sure he does not have to battle rare neuroblastoma for a third time.
Neuroblastomas, which form the nerve tissue, are most common in under-fives and affect 100 children in Britain every year.
Harry’s family started the Mad About Harry campaign and have raised an incredible £626,291 in just a month.
His consultant is now talking to three US hospitals about a treatment plan.
Harry’s mother Nina Banks, a property sales negotiator, said: “It’s amazing. We have had support from [rugby players] Dylan Hartley, Marcus Smith, Will Greenwood and Harry Mallinder.
“We are still working out which hospital is the best for Harry to go to. Our consultant is working with three different hospitals in the US for treatment.
“We are still raising funds as we do not know what the full cost will be. We are just going to keep going and any excess will go towards his future treatment or will help others or go towards research.
“We are incredibly grateful.”
But Nina added a note of caution, saying: “I struggle to get excited, but in if the money cures him I will be over the moon. Unfortunately it’s not reality now, but let’s hope it does work.
“It’s really mixed feelings as everyone is saying ‘congratulations, congratulations’.
“The reality is we have a long journey ahead and it’s frightening.”
Harry, from Milton Keynes, has faced a challenging week as he embarks on high-dose radiotherapy treatment at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford, which forms a part of the John Radcliffe Hospital. He faces further chemotherapy and also needs to undergo an operation and tests.
Nina said: “The radiotherapy has hit him quite hard. It’s different to what he had before – it’s a higher dose.”
Harry’s cancer was first diagnosed when he was six. It developed to the most serious stage four, but he went into remission for two years before the neuroblastoma returned.
Harry has already had an operation at John Radcliffe Hospital to remove a two-inch brain tumour and doctors have said the only way to stop the disease is radical treatment.
Nina said without the support of Sunday Express readers, the fundraising target might never have been reached.
“We would never have got there without them,” she said. “I am grateful to all those who helped and those who got involved – not just the celebrities but the companies and everyone has helped.”