Ralph's Campaign-lifesaving transplant for cancer
Donation protected
Raising funds to give 3 year old Ralph the life saving transplant he needs to cure him of cancer
Ralph is a gorgeous, funny and energetic 3 year old who loves nothing more than playing with his cars, running in the park and helping look after his new baby brother. Ralph also has a rare form of liver cancer and is waiting for a multi organ transplant to cure him of the disease.
We are his parents and it was back in January this year that we received the devastating news of his diagnosis. Since then he has undergone what no child should ever have to endure, including 11 intense rounds of chemotherapy, numerous scans and blood transfusions, and an operation and recovery for an aborted liver transplant. He has spent more time in hospital this year than many other 3 year olds have spent playing with their friends at nursery. Nevertheless, he has been the bravest little warrior.
Sadly, due to the way the cancer has presented itself, his only chance of cure is a multiorgan transplant and so Ralph still faces his biggest challenge yet. A multiorgan transplant includes the liver, bowel and pancreas and would have a very good probability of entirely clearing his cancer. But it means the donor must be a size match to Ralph, and the donor pool for this is incredibly small in the UK. He has been waiting 6 long months while relying on chemotherapy to hold the cancer at bay, but still no donor. He has been part of the ‘Waiting to live’ campaign with the NHS that is raising awareness about paediatric organ donation, calling to people to help end the wait by registering their children as donors. But unfortunately, Ralph doesn’t have a lot of time left to wait as his chemotherapy options are becoming exhausted.
What feels like our last option to save his life is to travel to the US to have this transplant. For a multitude of reasons, the waiting time for the specific transplant Ralph needs is much shorter than in the UK. It’s an incredibly expensive endeavour to move our lives across the world to fund the operation and rehabilitation, even if we achieve our aim of getting Ralph back home to London for mid/long-term follow-up. Whilst we are doing as much as we can as a family to raise the funds, it won’t be enough nor quick enough to make this happen.
We therefore ask upon your amazing generosity to help us raise the funds needed to give little Ralph the future he deserves. Time couldn’t be more of the essence, and every contribution will bring us a step closer to giving him this opportunity at life.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Katie and Graham
The operation and hospital care for Ralph to have this transplant in the US is quoted to be well in excess of £1m (including his stay in ICU, drugs, nurses and doctors time etc). If the transplant does not go ahead and funds are not needed for Ralph's treatment, or if it does take place and the fees transpire to be less, donations will be returned.
You can follow his story here:
Instagram: ralphscampaign
Facebook: Ralph's campaign
Tik Tok: ralphs.campaign
Media Appearances:
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/london-people-couple-great-ormond-street-hospital-nhs-b2450771.html
https://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/get-involved/news/hundreds-of-dolls-made-to-represent-children-waiting-for-transplant-as-part-of-a-new-campaign/
Organizer
Katie Tatham
Organizer
England