Four-year-old Archie loves Hot Wheels and Paw Patrol, and listening to Marvin Gaye and Bobby Hebb songs. He is obsessed with numbers and maths and is a kind and caring little boy.
In July 2022, Archie was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer that has a 40-50% chance of long-term survival at diagnosis.
His parents, Marcus and Kelly, are asking for your help to raise £154,000 for Archie to enrol on the DFMO study in Charlotte, North Carolina, which they hope will give him the best shot of keeping his cancer away. Archie needs to access this treatment without delay once he completes his frontline treatment in October 2023. This trial is not currently available on the NHS.
Archie was born on the 24th of February 2019. It was an unexpectedly hot day, and since his birth, Archie has always been seen by his family as bringing sunshine wherever he goes. After his first birthday, Archie began to have seizures out of the blue which continued sporadically. At worst, he would have up to 4 seizures a week. After taking him to the GP, Archie's family were no clearer as to what was causing the seizures and Archie continued to be sick and run down.
In April 2022 a lump appeared on Archie's right temple but the family struggled to get support from their GP and A&E. Eventually Archie had blood tests at the hospital which showed his white blood cells and neutrophils count was very low so as a result he was admitted. During this time, another lump appeared on Archie's head and doctors told the family they were concerned. However, after an ultrasound, the doctors sent the family home and prescribed iron supplements due to what they believed to be a poor diet causing Archie's illness and low blood count.
Over the next couple of months, Archie was a shadow of his former self. He was unable to talk or stand and had dark circles underneath his eyes, with his right eye appearing to be pushed out of its socket. After being given antibiotics for Archie and sent away the family returned to A&E once again where a doctor gave Archie a CT scan of his head which sadly showed a huge tumour surrounding the majority of his skull.
"In the last year, Archie has shown me, his mum and his siblings just how amazing he is. When we tell him he needs to go to the hospital he packs his paw patrol bag, brings his teddies (all of them) and just gets on with it. Sometimes it feels like he is supporting us, not the other way around," Archie’s dad, Marcus.
After the scan revealed Archie's tumour, his family were transferred to the John Radcliffe Hospital so he could start treatment straight away. Due to the size of the tumour, there was a debate about whether or not to operate to remove as much of the tumour as possible first or start chemotherapy immediately. On the 1st of July 2022, Archie started chemotherapy which was the first stage of his frontline treatment.
"The hospital stay was a blur, Archie latched on to either me or his mum throughout it all. There were so many blood tests and multiple scans and he had surgery to have his Hickman line fitted. It was a complete rollercoaster," says Marcus.
Archie parents were told that the cancer was in his bone marrow and it had spread throughout his little body. Since his diagnosis, Archie has had chemotherapy, surgery to remove the main tumour, stem cell harvest, high-dose chemotherapy, and radiotherapy and is now undergoing the final stay of frontline treatment which is immunotherapy.
Archie has coped so well with his treatment so far and all he has endured. Recently he has developed pulmonary hypertension which has caused damage to his heart and lungs. Due to treatment Archie gets tired very quickly and can't always keep up with his siblings and friends, however, he can now see out of his right eye again after the tumour caused damage, and wears hearing aids so his hearing is back to a good level.
Archie is a normal little boy who misses school and his friends, but he always has a smile on his face. Neuroblastoma is a brutal disease and we want to give Archie every opportunity to keep this demon away, which is why we have decided to fundraise. Any support you can give us will be greatly appreciated." Archie’s dad, Marcus.
There are many ways you can help Archie: by making a personal donation; by sharing and following his story on social media, holding a fundraising event; getting sponsored to take on a challenge.
To donate by text, send ARCHIE followed by any whole amount up to £20 to 70450. This will cost your donation plus your standard network charge. It wont matter if you leave a space before the number, if you include a £ sign or whether you use upper or lower case.
You can make a donation via this page.
If youd like to help to support Archie' campaign, please get in touch with the fundraising team on 0207 284 0800 andfundraising@solvingkidscancer.org.uk
Funds raised will go towards helping Archie and his family. If Archie no longer needs the funds or is in remission five 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 high-risk neuroblastoma, like Archie, the survival rate is much lower than other childhood cancers. Upon relapse, this rate reduces even further.
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