Halfway there! Your kindness brings new hope for brave Ralph
CHRISTMAS is looking a lot more hopeful for three-year-old cancer patient Ralph Tatham after kind-hearted Mail on Sunday readers donated almost £500,000 towards potentially life-saving treatment.
It means the toddler’s parents are halfway to hitting the target they need to send him to America – although time remains crucial as he has just weeks to get the multiple transplant he needs.
The toddler has a deadly form of cancer that has already spread around his body, but chemotherapy is no longer effective and he needs a new liver, bowel and pancreas.
He won’t get the transplant in time in the UK as there is a relatively small pool of donors, so his only hope is to have it done in the US, where a surgeon has confirmed they are ready to help.
Ralph’s mother Katie, 35, said: ‘It’s incredible how people have stepped forward to help save Ralph. With each day that goes by we are a step closer to us losing him, but if we can raise the money that we need, we can hope that he will have the transplant in time to save him.
‘As a mother, to be able to see Ralph grow up with his baby brother Albie, who is five months old, would be the greatest gift in the world. It’s devastating watching them together and knowing that Ralph may not be here to see Albie grow up. We just have to pray that the donations keep on coming in, so that we can get him to the US.’
The North London family’s nightmare began in January, when Ralph started complaining of stomach ache. His GP sent him for a scan and he was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma, a rare form of cancer, that affects just two in a million children in the UK each year.
Ralph immediately started chemotherapy and underwent 11 rounds. Mrs Tatham and her husband Graham, 35, were also told that he would need a liver transplant.
Mr Tatham offered to donate part of his liver, but then doctors found the cancer had spread further, requiring a multi-organ transplant.
Mrs Tatham added: ‘It was devastating news. We had thought Graham was going to be able to save him. We knew the chances of Ralph having a multi-organ transplant were much slimmer.’
Ralph is part of a campaign called Waiting To Live, highlighting the plight of the 230 children in the UK waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant. He has been top of the urgent waiting list for six months, and a few weeks ago, doctors said he only has a matter of weeks to find a suitable donor before it is too late.
Mail on Sunday readers have donated more than £490,000. Hayley Nicholls, from Crouch End, North London, was the first to step forward with her donation of £1,500. She said: ‘I donated in memory of my sister Natalie who passed away in 2019. I remember how hard it was trying to raise funds for her private treatment from strangers. She would have been very proud to know that some of her funds were helping families in similar situations.’
Mrs Tatham added: ‘It made me cry reading about Hayley’s donation. She was a complete stranger and yet she donated a lot of money to try to help our son. We want to thank all the lovely people who have donated, it means the world to us. If we can save Ralph’s life, it will be because of how people have stepped forward. We just need the last bit of the miracle now.’