Mikey is a playful, loving and cheeky little boy with a great sense of humour. He loves playing with and spending time with little brother, Bobby.
In December 2017, when Mikey was just 20 months old and enjoying the build-up to Christmas, his parents noticed a lump in his tummy. After a trip to A&E, the doctors diagnosed his condition as stage 4 high-risk neuroblastoma. Further tests revealed that the tumour had grown from above his right kidney to across almost his entire abdomen. It had heavily infiltrated his bone marrow.
Mikey was started on a gruelling induction chemotherapy schedule on Christmas Eve 2017, receiving eight cycles of treatment every ten days. He responded well to the initial treatment and then went on to battle his way through a complex eight-and-a-half-hour surgery to remove the remainder of the tumour.
That was followed by high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplant, radiotherapy and immunotherapy treatment. Throughout his treatment, he has had to endure numerous blood transfusions, general anaesthetics, nose tube insertions, injections and antibiotics to fight infections. Amazingly, he has remained in high spirits keeping everyone entertained with his endless humour and cheeky personality.
Following immunotherapy and end of treatment scans, Mikey and his family flew to New York in April 2019 to access the bivalent vaccine clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with the hope of keeping the cancer away.
Mikeys campaign remains open in case he needs any potentially life-saving treatment in the future not available through the NHS, which could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
There are many ways you can help Mikey: by making a personal donation; holding a fundraising event; getting sponsored to take on a challenge.
Visit www.solvingkidscancer.org.uk for resources to support your fundraising including ideas, templates and guidance.
To donate by text, send "MIKEY" followed by any whole amount up to £20 to 70085. This will cost your donation plus your standard network charge. It won't matter if you leave a space before the number, if you include a '£' sign or whether you use upper or lower case.
If you'd like to help supporting Mikey's campaign, please get in touch with the fundraising team on 0207 284 0800 and fundraising@solvingkidscancer.org.uk.
Funds raised will go towards helpingMikeyand hisfamily. IfMikeyno 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 Mikey, the survival rate is much lower than other childhood cancers. Upon relapse, this rate reduces even further.
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