Family of a three-year-old boy with a rare brain cancer thanks the public after crowdfunding to take his family to the US to support his proton beam therapy raises £6,000

  • The aunt of three-year-old Caleb Stirrat, Claire Smith, thanked the public
  • She said the kind donations from 350 people had brought the family to tears
  • The money will be used to fly Caleb's sisters, gran and granddad to the US
  • Caleb will be having a proton beam therapy treatment at a hospital in Florida
  • The NHS will pay for him and his parents flight and the family's accommodation

Caleb Stirrat, 3, will be joined for his proton beam therapy treatment in the US by his sisters and grandparents thanks to kind donations of £6,000 from the public

Caleb Stirrat, 3, will be joined for his proton beam therapy treatment in the US by his sisters and grandparents thanks to kind donations of £6,000 from the public

The aunt of a three-year-old boy with brain cancer has thanked the public after a fundraising drive to take the family to the US reached more than £6,000.

Claire Smith, a nurse and the aunt of ill toddler Caleb Stirrat, said the widespread generosity from the public has reduced the family to tears.

The money will be used to bring his sisters, gran and granddad to the US to support him for his proton beam therapy as the NHS is only funding the flight for Caleb and his parents Karen, 33, a charity worker, and Andy, 42, a self-employed taxi driver.

The healthcare provider has also offered to fund the accommodation for anyone that can make it to the States.

Last week the family was told by doctors that the NHS will pay for him to undergo treatment in Florida, US.

Caleb, from Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, was one of three triplets - alongside sisters Alyssia and Poppy - born 27 weeks premature in January 2016.

After suffering from headaches towards the end of February, a CT scan revealed Caleb had atprical teratoid rhabdoid tumour (ATRT), an aggressive and rare form of brain cancer.

He had surgery to have it removed and last month the youngster began a six month course of chemotherapy at Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Children.

Caleb Stirrat, who was born prematurely at 27 weeks, has brain cancer

Caleb Stirrat, who was born prematurely at 27 weeks, has brain cancer

The NHS said they would fund Caleb and his parent's flights and accommodation for anyone that could join them in the US

The NHS said they would fund Caleb and his parent's flights and accommodation for anyone that could join them in the US

Last week, Caleb's mum Karen, 33, and dad Andy, 42, were told by doctors that the NHS will pay for him to undergo proton beam therapy treatment in Florida, US.

The family are set to leave in two weeks and the NHS will cover the costs of accommodation for anyone going, however, they only cover the flight costs for Caleb and his parents.

The treatment will take nine weeks and a consultant advised the family to go together, but the costs of taking Caleb's siblings and his grandparents along were too much for the family to shoulder.

Karen said: 'The NHS are only providing £1000 for expenses which for a family of 5 abroad for 3 months and still having to cover bills etc. here is nowhere near enough.

'So we are fundraising to get the girls, gran and granddad over and cover expenses as no one should have to worry about money at a time like this.'

Claire, aunt to Caleb and a nurse, set up the JustGiving page three weeks ago to raise the funds for other family members to join them

Claire, aunt to Caleb and a nurse, set up the JustGiving page three weeks ago to raise the funds for other family members to join them

In response, Claire kick-started a fundraiser to try and help Andy, a self-employed taxi driver, and Karen, a charity worker, pay for additional flights and cover living costs while the family are in America.

Claire, a nurse, set up a JustGiving page three weeks ago, which has garnered £6,158 from 350 kindhearted contributors.

She said: 'I thought because Caleb's dad is self employed how are they going to manage with the costs of child care and no sick pay.

'It's to support the family because there's no income.'

Yesterday, Claire and three others went out collecting money with buckets in Glasgow city centre, which raised £258 and left her emotional at the public's kind response.

She said: 'We put hi-vis vests on and printed off a logo for our fundraising.

A picture uploaded to his Justgiving page shows Caleb in hospital. Claire, who uploaded the image, thanked all the people that had donated for their support

A picture uploaded to his Justgiving page shows Caleb in hospital. Claire, who uploaded the image, thanked all the people that had donated for their support

'When people were giving us £10 and £20 notes we were actually crying.

'That was amazing, everybody's been so lovely and generous.'

Claire, 36, originally set the fundraising target at £1,000, but that figure has since been smashed and is continuing to rise.

She said: 'It started plateauing around £4,000 but in the last few days it's gone crazy.

'We've got a lot of businesses within Clydebank that are helping raise money as well.

'We're trying to organise a fundraiser night and we've been offered a venue so we'll try and get that organised over the coming weeks - every little bit helps.'

Since Caleb's chemotherapy began, his health has deteriorated at times and he's only been home twice in the last month.

A screenshot from Caleb's Justgiving page on Sunday showed he had received donations of £6,385 so far to help his family

A screenshot from Caleb's Justgiving page on Sunday showed he had received donations of £6,385 so far to help his family

Claire said: 'He's had high temperatures, his platelets and hemoglobin keep dropping.

'He's also lost all his hair now.

'The prognosis of the type of this cancer is poor so it's essential we get the family over there together.

'We can't have them split up.'

Claire, who has been fundraising tirelessly in her spare time, insisted the public help has been 'overwhelming' and the family wouldn't be able to make it to the US together otherwise.

She said: 'It still doesn't feel like we're actually talking about a member of our family.

'We could never have imagined that we'd be in the position we're at just now.

'We're so grateful to everybody that's donated and the family are so overwhelmed.

'Financially as a family we wouldn't be able to support it so they've really made a difference - it means so much to us all.'

She added: 'Even if people aren't in a position to donate, even if they could share the fundraising page it would be most helpful.'

What is Proton Beam Therapy, what is it used for and how does it work?

Proton beam therapy is a type of radiotherapy that aims proton beams at cancers.

While conventional radiotherapy uses high energy beams of radiation to destroy cancerous cells, often damaging surrounding tissue, proton beam therapy aims radiation directly at the tumour.

Because it is so highly targeted it means it can avoid healthy tissue, particularly tissues and organs behind the tumour.

Radiotherapy can lead to side effects such as nausea and can sometimes disrupt how some organs function, but proton beam therapy has a lower risk of side effects.

This means it is effective for treating cancer that affects critical areas, such as brain cancer.  

Ashya King, whose case sparked an international manhunt in 2014, underwent proton beam therapy.

Brett and Naghmeh King were arrested after they took their son, then five, for brain tumour treatment abroad as the NHS initially refused to offer proton beam therapy, which his parents felt was less harmful than conventional radiotherapy.

They took him from Southampton Hospital and travelled to the Czech Republic for treatment at the Proton Therapy Center.

Ashya was finally allowed to undergo treatment a Prague hospital after a long legal battle fought by his parents. Eventually, he was declared cancer-free in March 2016. 

Source: NHS 

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