I am fundraising for Young Lives vs Cancer, an amazing organisation who provided great care and support for Cameron and his parents Adam and Geraldine. Below is their story.

On Tuesday October 4th 2022 we received the devastating news that our eldest son Cameron (3y) had a very large brain tumor. He was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital and readied for surgery. MRI showed that the tumor was upto 13cm diameter in some places and the pressure inside Cam's head meant surgery was required asap.

An amazing team of Nurses on the ICU at Great Ormond took great care of Cam (and his terrified parents). We met his surgeon, Dr Owase Jeelani who does truly inspirational work. He talked us through the MRI and they were going to try to remove the full tumor in a 7-8 hour surgery. Thankfully, the surgery was a success and the tumor was removed.

Once the tumor tissue had been studied, Cameron was diagnosed with Embryonal Tumor with Multilayered Rosettes (ETMR). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embryonal_tumour_with_multilayered_rosettes

ETMR is a very rare, and very aggressive type of brain cancer that is typically diagnosed in children aged 1-3. Unfortunately the prognosis for children with ETMR is not good and because there are so few cases, there is no standard treatment protocol.

The team at GOSH, led by Cam's oncologist, Dr Szychot met with specialists nationally and in the US and Canada to determine the best course of treatment to give him the best chance of survival.

In the end that looked like 7 weeks of daily radiotherapy under general anaesthetic, followed by chemotherapy.

Unfortunately, in January 2023 we learned that Camerons cancer had already returned and had spread to new areas of the brain. It was growing fast and the chemotherapy did little to slow the growth.

Cameron passed away peacefully in his mothers arms on April 3rd 2023 at Great Ormond Street.

Young Lives vs Cancer were on hand to support us from the day Cam was diagnosed and still to this day. Kathryn from Young Lives was there for us, whether it was just to talk through how we were coping or for practical things like arranging a blue badge for Cam so we didn't have a long walk to get to his appointments.

We have been fortunate to be surrounded by and supported by good people - friends, family, employers, neighbours, charities and NHS staff - and every kindness shown to us throughout Cams treatment, meant we had a little bit more energy to put into him.

Whilst we could not cure his cancer, we could focus our energy and love on him. Making sure that despite all that he went through in those 6 months, he still had a smile on his face every single day. We wouldn't have been able to do that if we didn't have the support we had so thank you!

Hopefully, I can raise some money for Young Lives vs Cancer so that their good work can continue because I know how much it will mean to the young people and families that need it.