Ben is an amazing and courageous 7 year old little boy who was born Down Syndrome.
Just before his 2nd birthday Ben was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML cancer of the bone marrow) he had 6 months of intense Chemotherapy and is now in remission.
After 14 months Ben became ill again this time he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphblastic Leukaemia (ALL).
This is a rare illness. Ben is only the 2nd person known to have developed 'ALL' after 'AML'.
In 2008 Doctors decided Bens treatment would stop 1 year early. Here is the reason why.
'ALL' treatment for girls is 2 years, for boys it is 3 years.
Doctors have found a percentage of Downs Syndrome boys have died in their 3rd year of treatment, 20% so Dr's have decided that the best treatment for Down Syndrome boys is 2 years with the hope that this is enough chemo to cure them.
Ben's chance of beating the ALL is now 50 to 55 %, his chance's have gone down as he has missed alot of his treatment as his little body could not cope with some of the drugs.
Fundraising
Over the past two years Ben`s story has touched the hearts of hundreds and Ben facebook page currently has 68000 members.
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=59665054012&ref=search#!/group.php?gid=45597095836&ref=ts
Hallam FM & Cash for Kids are now involved, stepping up the profile for Bens fundraising.
Where will the money go?
It will go into a fund for Ben and it will be used to give him the best possible chance of happiness.
Ben love's camping and it would be ideal if the family could afford to purchase a static caravan.
Unfortunately, Ben's condition makes it very difficult for him to be able to travel abroad and due to the high and ever present risk of infection to Ben the location would need to be within the safe vicinity of a hospital.
Any surplus money will be donated by his mum to a charity she endorses and that is close to her heart.
xxx
