The mother of a teenager who fights rare cancer has revealed that the treatment to save lives abroad, financed by public generosity, represents her “last hope” for her son, who “would not be here” without donations.
Sam Holson, 50, from Godmunchester, Cambridgeshire, is currently in Germany with his 14 -year -old son, Jamie, while undergoing specialized care.
Jamie first noticed packages on the right side of his neck during a family vacation in April 2023.
Initially dismissed, the packages became painful, which led to their mother, who took a step back of her marketing role due to her health, to seek medical care for Jamie.
In June 2023, Jamie was diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomiosarcoma, a weird soft tissue cancer that affects an average of only 31 people in England annually, according to Sarcoma UK.
The diagnosis devastated the family. Jamie underwent two chemotherapy courses, achieving the remission twice, but relapsed on each occasion.
With their treatment options they became “limited” in the NHS, their parents began to explore alternatives abroad.
A gofundme page was launched, raising more than £ 300,000 in “incredible” and “generous” donations. Since June of this year, Sam and Jamie have been residing in a medical clinic in Germany, where the adolescent is receiving the crucial treatment of cancer.
Sam now estimates that the family has spent most of the money originally collected with the “incredibly expensive” care rates of Jamie, and said they will need other £ 300,000 for your child to receive the greatest vaccine against immunotherapy you need to survive.
Speaking of the clinic in Germany, Sam told PA's real life: “This is our last hope, our last resort if you wish.
“Without the support we have had, without the collection of funds, Jamie would not be here now.
“We are very grateful to have a life opportunity and we massively trust the kindness and generosity of people, family, friends and strangers.
“We are prepared to re -back our house if we have to do and do everything we can, but any support we receive means the world for us.”
Sam described his son as “incredibly in form” before his diagnosis, and he would play football five times a week as captain of his school's team.
Jamie was 12 years old when he first noticed one or two packages on the right side of his neck, while on a family vacation in Spain in April 2023.
“In the coming weeks, they became quite prominent and seemed to grow rapidly,” Sam said.
Sam took Jamie to the family's header, where he said he was examined and the prescription antibiotics, since it was thought that his symptoms were of an infection.
A few weeks later, while Sam was on a business trip, Adam, a painter and decorator on his own, called her to tell her that he had taken Jamie to A & e in his local fanbrooke hospital when the packages had begun to be painful.
Sam said Jamie underwent more tests and exams, and that he was prescribed antibiotics once again.
In a few days, Sam said the packages were becoming “more and more” and “more painful”, and the family was becoming more and more “anxious.”
Sam said the doctors “determined that the busts were cancer”, but it was not clear what guy, and Jamie was admitted to the Adenbrooke hospital in Cambridge.
In June 2023, Jamie was officially diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomiosarcoma, rare soft tissue cancer where tumors develop from muscle or fibrous tissue and can grow anywhere in the body, according to NHS.
Sam added that his son's cancer was stage four and his prognosis was “gloomy.”
“You can hardly believe that it is happening, you have an experience outside the body and it doesn't seem real,” Sam said.
“Jamie handled everything incredibly well, he takes everything with his step.”
Jamie quickly began a six -month course of “hard” chemotherapy treatment.
“It was relentless, it was exhausting, it was stressful, exhausting, everything you can imagine,” Sam recalled.
Sam said that a three -month routine scan revealed that Jamie was going to the remission and that, after completing the treatment course in December 2023, he could return to an appearance of normality.
“It was great news, he began to return to school, his hair began to grow and began to gain weight,” Sam said.
A few months later, in May 2024, however, Jamie noticed pain on his side and the scanning revealed that his cancer had returned.
It was put in another 10 months of chemotherapy treatment, this time using a different medication.
After three rounds of treatment, Sam said the scanning showed that Jamie had entered a remission again, and completed his treatment course in February this year.
“We think 'great, we have done it again,” Sam said.
“Jamie seemed healthy, he had energy, it was almost as if he had returned to normal.”
Unfortunately, a routine exploration in April of this year showed that the disease had returned once again, what “stepped on” and “devastated” the family.
Knowing the treatment options were now “limited” in the NHS, Sam said they started looking further.
They discovered a vaccine against immunotherapy at a clinic in Germany, which would use Jamie's immune system to combat cancer cells in their body, but the family would need to pay to receive it.
They launched a Gofundme page for their support, which has raised more than £ 378,000 to date, and Sam said the family is “incredibly grateful” and “blessed.”
During the last six weeks, Jamie has been receiving cancer treatment that save lives in the clinic, which includes personalized and personalized immunotherapy treatments, genomic profiles and weekly infusions of IV, and seems to be responding well.
Sam said that most of the money raised has now been spent, and that they need to raise more funds to allow Jamie to receive a great vaccine against immunotherapy “to give him the best opportunity for long -term remission”, which estimates that it will cost other £ 300,000 in total.
“The vaccines vary from 5,000 (£ 4,329) to 20,000 euros (£ 17,317), to remain in the clinic are 1,300 euros (£ 1,125) per night,” Sam explained.
“Each treatment in addition to that, each medicine, is an additional rate.
“It seems to be working but it's incredibly expensive.”
Jamie has been sharing his story on several social media platforms under the name of Jamie's Quest, and his most popular Tiktok video, where he directs his followers and asks for help, has won more than 1.4 million visits.
“It's great because I want people to understand why we are trying to raise a lot of money,” Sam said.
“Without that, Jamie would not be sitting here right now.”
For more information, visit Jamie's fund collection page here: Gofundme.com/f/life-saving-cancer-tratment-For-jamie
