BRAVE Worcester youngster Oscar Saxelby-Lee has made the journey to Singapore with his mum and dad in his fight against T-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
The five-year-old began treatment in hospital yesterday (Wednesday) after efforts to tackle the disease in this country proved fruitless.
Together with mum Olivia Saxelby and dad Jamie Lee, Oscar has made the journey to the other side of the world in his quest for a cure. He had donor lymphocyte infusion (DLI) treatment in the UK but has headed to Singapore for Car-T therapy that uses the immune system to kill cancer cells.
“Oscar is continuing to fight, but his disease hasn’t responded greatly to the DLI, treatment in the UK involving a top up of donor cells, he was given,” Olivia said. “It kept his disease level down to an extent, but it’s not what we had wished. All we want to do is the ‘right’ thing by our baby.
“We are scared, we are petrified, we just don’t know if this is the best option, but what we do know is Oscar was given this chance and we must go for it before it’s too late.”
The devoted mum paid tribute to everyone who helped raise the £600,000 needed to fund Oscar’s treatment in Singapore for their efforts.
“Thank you to Oscar’s team at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and especially Dr Lawson who has and continues to support us even if it’s the most difficult situation to be in.
“We love our team in Birmingham. It will be so hard going to Singapore and we will miss everyone but we feel we will only allow them a few months break before we head back and little Oscar will be once again full of beans terrorising them all!”
Oscar will undergo Car-T therapy in Singapore with the backing of specialists at the Children’s Hospital and support from the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust.
Dr Jen Kelly, director of the trust set up in memory of her daughter Grace, wished Oscar and his parents well and said everyone would be rooting for the brave Pitmaston Primary School youngster.
“Thank you so much to the people of Worcestershire for working together to help us give this wonderful little boy this chance,” she said.
“Grace’s legacy was a wish to help other children, and we are so proud to have been able to help support Oscar’s family in this way.”
“The Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust would also like to thank all members of the community who have supported the charity by fund-raising to enable this treatment option to become a reality for Oscar.
“We will continue to work hard for Oscar but also for so many other children fighting cancer. Our work is far from done and we will keep fighting for all these children,” she added.
