Baxter the Brave

We'd like to introduce you to Baxter Browne; our nephew. 
Baxter is a funny, energetic and incredibly loving and caring six and a half year old. Sadly, Baxter hasn't been well lately. What started out as a slightly concerning case of yellowing pupils has turned out to be something much worse.

Following four weeks of illness (almost all of it spent in Crumlin Children's Hospital), Baxter has been diagnosed with SCID (severe combined immunodeficiency) a congenital auto-immune disease; something that will require radical treatment in the form of chemotherapy & bone marrow transplant. To make matters worse, the treatment for Baxter's condition is not available in Ireland.

Baxter will need to travel to the Great North Children's Hospital, in Newcastle, England in the coming months. The Great North Children's Hospital is one of only two units in the entire UK (and Ireland) which perform bone marrow transplants for children who were born with severe immune deficiencies. The treatment itself will initially involve aggressive chemotherapy, followed by a bone marrow transplant, and long periods of isolation.  A horrible thing for anyone to face; especially a six and a half year old.

Beside Baxter every step of the way on this harrowing journey will be Kenneth, Baxter's fantastic father. Heartbreakingly, the two boys will have to face the journey without Baxter's mum, Lynn, who passed away following a tragic accident earlier this year.

As you can imagine, treatment of this magnitude and severity comes at a heavy cost. Made even more costly due to it occurring outside the State. So, to assist with this financial burden we have set up this GoFundMe page.

It is truly devastating that Baxter is going through this right now and asking for financial assistance isn't easy. However, any support at all is deeply appreciated and will go a long way to giving a little boy back his life.