Dean's brave fight against DIPG brain tumour

Please help save our son’s life. We are both NHS Nurses raisings funds for last chance treatment unavailable on the NHS

Dean Mandabva is a kind, caring, football-loving 11-year-old boy from Buckingham town, the youngest of our 4 children.

In early June 2019, our bright, brilliant, young boy who was full of life and love fell at school while playing football. My wife and I took Dean to Milton Keynes A&E where our nightmare began. Dean's life could be cut short due to a high-grade Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) – a tumour of the brainstem which is the part of the brain that controls blood pressure, eye movement, breathing, swallowing and heart rate. It is the deadliest form of brain cancer among children.

Following MRI and CT scans and tests, Dean was transferred to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where we were informed that Dean’s tumour was inoperable.

The only treatment available to Dean on the NHS was radiotherapy. Dean underwent 30 sessions of radiotherapy and his cancer went into remission in June 2019 allowing him to return to school and play football with his friends.

 Eight months later in February 2020, Dean complained of blurred vision. After further MRI scans/ tests and hospital appointments we were told his tumour had come back and had spread to other areas of his brain.  We were told there was no further treatment he could be given on the NHS and Dean was offered palliative care to keep him comfortable in a hospice.

Mercy and I, both of whom are NHS nurses are desperate to help our son improve his chances of survival.  Through extensive independent research we have found clinical trials in America however due to COVID-19 travel restrictions we are unable to obtain this potentially life-saving treatment. At the same time, we discovered that Immunotherapy Treatment (Dendritic Cell Therapy) is available in Germany and Spain which seems promising. The treatment hopefully shrink the tumour and give Dean the chance to live a normal life. We want to do all we can so that he can  continue with school and live into adulthood.

The private treatment in Spain is available now for Dean and we are desperately appealing for well-wishers to help this become a reality.  The total cost of the treatment is £50,000. Anything you can spare will help us reach this target and give Dean a chance to continue his life and play football again. Failure to raise this amount will mean Dean will lose his life since he is living in the last months of his prognosis.

We are working closely with the charity Brain Tumour Research to help raise awareness of the disease, in the hope that no other parents have to endure the heartache that Mercy and I have. Some of the money raised above our target will be donated to Brain Tumour Research and other local charities so that they can continue to support others like Dean.

Brain tumours do not discriminate as they can affect anyone at any age. They kill more children and adults under the age of 40 than any other cancer. Yet just 1% of the national budget spend on cancer research has been allocated to this devastating disease.

Brain Tumour Research is determined to change this.

If you’d simply like to help with a donation please go to: https://www.gofundme.com/f/dean039s-brave-fight-against-dipg-brain-tumour/donate

Please share our story on social media using: #DeansBraveFight 

David & Mercy Mandabva