Why we are fundraising

Zach's family are fundraising for him to access CAR-T cell therapy, a treatment that is not currently available to Zach through the NHS. They need to raise £339,000 by the start of November to help cover the cost of the treatment itself, and the travel and accommodation needed to receive care in Rome.

For Zach's parents, this is about giving their son every possible chance to fight his cancer.

Every donation, no matter the size, brings Zach one step closer to Rome, and to the chance of the childhood he deserves: starting school, running around with his brother, and growing up as the superhero he already is.

Meet Zach

On the wards at Great Ormond Street Hospital, there is one patient every nurse knows: the Red Power Ranger. Between treatments, four-year-old Zach is busy battling the baddies, and the nurses are always roped in as his team.

Zach lives in Hackney, London. He is obsessed with the Power Rangers, loves Arsenal and wears his football shirt with his name on the back. He dreams of becoming a superhero one day. To his family, he already is one.

Zach should have started Reception this September, at the same school as his big brother. Instead, he is facing his second fight against cancer.

Following Zach's relapse, his family are fundraising to help him access CAR-T cell therapy in Rome, a treatment they hope will give him another chance to fight his cancer.

Zach’s diagnosis

Zach’s journey began in October 2024, when he was just two years and eight months old. He was diagnosed with stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive form of childhood cancer.

Neuroblastoma affects around 100 children in the UK each year. For children diagnosed with high-risk disease, treatment can be long and intensive, often involving several different therapies and procedures. Even after completing frontline treatment, there remains a significant risk of the cancer returning. For children whose cancer comes back, like Zach, the survival rate is much lower than for other childhood cancers.

Zach’s treatment

Since his diagnosis, Zach has undergone an incredibly intensive course of treatment, including chemotherapy, MIBG therapy, a 12-hour operation to remove his tumour and immunotherapy. He has needed numerous procedures under general anaesthetic, feeding tubes and treatment for several complicated infections

After his operation, complications kept Zach in hospital for seven months. His central line had to be removed seven times, and each time he was at high risk of sepsis.

During his MIBG radiation therapy, Zach had to be kept in isolation, separated from his mum at an age when he needed her most.

When Arsenal players visited Great Ormond Street, Zach was too ill with an infection to go and meet them. His big brother went in his place

After more than 18 months of intensive treatment, Zach sadly relapsed.

The impact on Zach

Cancer treatment has taken away much of the normal childhood that Zach should have been enjoying.

He doesn’t understand why he can't always play like other children, go to school or eat normally. He has been fed through a tube in his nose and has spent long stretches of his young life in hospital. His operation left him with mobility difficulties, tummy pain and nausea.

Before he became ill, Zach was an active little boy who loved running around and playing with his older brother. Through it all, he has never stopped being Zach. His superheroes and his Power Rangers have carried him through some of his hardest days.

Zach beyond cancer

Zach’s family desperately want him to have the chance to experience all the things that other children take for granted - going to school, playing with friends, running around with his brother and growing up without cancer dictating his life.

He has already had to be incredibly brave at such a young age. Now, his family want to give him every opportunity to move forward and build the future he deserves.

Solving Kids' Cancer UK's children's fundraising campaigns

Funds raised will go towards helping Zach and his family. If Zach no longer needs the funds or is in remission seven years post the end of successful treatment, the funds will be used to support other children and families affected by neuroblastoma through our activities. For children with relapsed high-risk neuroblastoma, like Zach, the survival rate is much lower than other childhood cancers.