William - a reminder of what it's all about
This week I was lucky enough to meet 6 year old William, and his family.
WIlliam’s spent most of his life in and out of hospital in Auckland, getting treatment for his Leukaemia. William has ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia), and has had many many rounds of crippling chemo, and two bone marrow transplant procedures.
William is going on a clinical trial for CAR-T cell therapy - similar to the trial I was on 18 months ago. This will require his and his family to travel over to the Washington DC area of the USA, and live there for a number of months. It’s an expensive and unsettling time for this family, who have already been through so much.
Having now met him, William is wise beyond his years. His life has been full of needles, nurses and nausea, and as a lovely little 6 year old, he deserves so much better. The CAR-T cell therapy may well give him that.
With both parents taking turns caring for him, taking time out of their jobs as teachers, this is a financially tough time for them. To get ready for hte trial, the doctors have had to reduce the Chemotherapy that William was getting, meaning he looks better for the moment, but that’s not a true depiction of how sick this boy is. The family have packed bags ready by the door for the moment they get confirmed in the trial.
As you know, I’m raising money to get the CAR-T cell therapy to New Zealand, but that won’t be in time to help William, so if you find yourself in a position to help this lovely family, please do so here:
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/mighty-wills-baltimore-leukemia-treatment
And if you can support the Mallaghan Institute of Medical Research in their goal to have a clinical trial here in NZ, that woudl be amazing too:
#DownWithCancerNZ