BRAVE Worcester youngster Oscar Saxelby-Lee’s mum has lavished praise on the NHS after revealing the five-year-old’s first stage of treatment in Singapore has come to an end.
Oscar made made the journey to Singapore with his mum and dad in his fight against T-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.
The five-year-old began his treatment in hospital last Wednesday (November 20) 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.
Mum Olivia revealed Oscar’s cells had been sent to the labs for further examination but said the procedure had been the ‘most horrific yet’. “He is being one heck of an amazing trooper! Even just a few hours post op and he is bouncing off the walls again,” she wrote.
“We are slowly adapting to the ‘Singaporean’ way but as you can imagine it’s oh so different to the UK.
“We visually saw what we wouldn’t have done back home during the line removal which shook us quite a lot, but in some ways it’s opened our eyes up to just how easily one small procedure can go wrong,” she added.
Oscar’s treatment opened Jamie and Olivia’s eyes to the work in the UK and the benefits of the National Health Service.
“It’s also highlighted how well our health professionals do in taking care of our children and being so thorough in what they do,” she said.
“We have free healthcare, here you don’t. Yes they have an ability to expand research and compassionately treat patients but the NHS is without a doubt one superb addition to our country.”
A two-night stay cost the family a staggering £12,000 of the £600,000 raised for Oscar, according to Olivia.
“This whole journey so far has been so tough but also eye opening as to just how fortunate we are to have our NHS,” she said.
“Oscar may not be undergoing treatment in the UK right now but if it wasn’t for them, he wouldn’t have got to where he is now either.
“On that note they will not stop caring for him on our return. We need to fight for our NHS we truly do.
“To stand up to cancer we must stand up for our NHS,” she added.
