Help Alexander beat brain cancer!

The week before Christmas 2020 our hearts were broken and our little Alexander's life was shattered.  I had rushed him to our local A&E after his second seizure where we were given the devastating news that he had a brain tumour.

Alexander, is 7 years old, he loves life, family, school and is full of energy. He likes nothing more than playing with his big brother who loves him dearly. Just two years apart in age, they are brothers and best friends.

Alexander has always been the very definition of healthy and this came as a huge shock. He has always been super strong, loves sports and throws himself into every challenge with 110%. He is the kindest and most generous little boy you could ever meet. A great sharer, always putting the wants of his big brother and friends before his own. He loves to laugh and has amazed us and the Dr's and nurses with his ability to find comedy in some of his darkest moments.

Last September in the middle of the night I heard a noise and discovered Alexander having a major seizure, we called an ambulance and were rushed to A&E where he recovered. The Doctor's thought it could be a one off but we were booked in for a routine MRI brain scan to be certain. With the pressure of the pandemic on the NHS Alexander's brain scan didn't take place until November and the results were lost. When we arrived at A&E for the second time in December they managed to find the results and delivered the devastating news. At first Dr's believed the tumour to be a type that is slow growing and benign so thought that surgery could wait, however as his Mother my instincts told me they were wrong.  I knew this was urgent and I begged for surgery to take place straight away but the country was in lockdown, hospitals were being taken over by Covid and surgeries were cancelled.  They believed his tumour was slow growing, they thought we had time and it was safer to wait. I even tried calling other hospitals and was told the same thing, Covid had taken over.  Surgery could wait.

Unfortunately and sickeningly my instincts were right, Alexanders tumour was not what the MRI scans indicated. It is a highly aggressive high grade Glioma and within 8 weeks it had not only grown but also spread to his spine. By this point Alexander was having several seizures a day and on strong medication with terrible side effects. Our usually bright and bubbly little boy was becoming seriously ill.

Finally in March Alexander had a 10 hour operation to remove the tumour in his brain. He bounced back from surgery amazingly well, started feeling his usual self and even started going into school for playtimes to see his beloved friends. However, within weeks his symptoms were returning and we were back in A&E. Despite the amazing skill and dedication of the surgical team that removed it, an MRI scan showed the tumour was growing back already. Not only did Alexander have to endure a painful spinal surgery but as soon as his little body could handle it, a second brain surgery was needed urgently. He had to go through it all over again.

These surgeries took place in June and thanks to the care and outstanding skill of the surgical team, Alexander has bounced back again!   He is about to start an intensive 6 weeks of radiotherapy to the whole of his head and spine plus a year of chemotherapy.   We have been told that even with all of this gruelling treatment his chance of survival is only 20%.

We are terrified of what the future might hold but we are full of hope.   Alexander is a fighter!   His bravery and resilience throughout has been amazing and our love for him keeps us all going.  We want to give Alexander every chance to live so we have looked into all possible treatments all over the world and we have found something!

Germany, the USA and Japan have made major advances in Immunotherapy and Dendritic Cell Therapy treatments for brain tumours and Cancer. Unfortunately, they are not yet available on the NHS or even in the UK.  These state of the art treatments train your immune system to destroy cancer cells and to keep attacking them, preventing them from growing back.  We have found a centre in Germany that Alexander is suitable for.  This advanced treatment is incredibly expensive and on top of treatment costs, will require us to travel to Germany once a month for up to 2 years.  It is a huge amount of money for one family to find.  We are relying on the kindness and generosity of anyone reading this to donate and help Alexander fight!    We are so grateful for any donation you can make no matter how big or small.   Not only will this money go towards saving the life of a wonderful little boy but it will also help to push forward cancer and brain tumour research for generations to come.

With love and hope,


Rhonda (Alexander's Mummy)