Teddy is a 3-year-old from West Sussex who is obsessed with anything to do with trains! He loves riding trains, going to the station to see the trains, playing with his train set, and watching Thomas and Friends. He is a very funny and clever little boy, and is always known by the nurses and doctors for being chatty and singing the Thomas theme tune!
In July 2022, Teddy was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma, a rare and aggressive childhood cancer that has a 40-50% chance of long-term survival at diagnosis.
His parents, Katherine and Alastair, are currently fundraising for potentially lifesaving treatment, either to get their son into remission or to try and keep the cancer away if his frontline treatment does go to plan. This could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
In June 2022, Teddy had just turned 3 and become a big brother to baby Rupert. Throughout the summer the family made multiple trips to the GP with Teddy due to fevers, discomfort and crying at night - first, it was tonsillitis, then an ear infection, which both cleared up with antibiotics. He was lethargic and had a low appetite but that wasn't unexpected given the infections. Then on 26th June, Teddy said 'my sides hurt' for the first time.
The next day Katherine took him to the doctor who examined him thoroughly and was happy with his condition. Afterwards, Teddy spent hours running around and playing at soft play like every other child. During the night, he cried continuously whilst his mum held him and moaned 'mummy I'm tired, mummy it hurts'.
'I knew something was very wrong, says mum Kat.
Teddy's dad Alastair took him to the hospital the next morning where he was admitted with suspected appendicitis but discharged the next day. However, a few days later the pain came back and he was once again admitted after going to A&E. After a few days when his infection markers were rising, but no source of infection was found, he had an ultrasound.
'A consultant walked into the room and whispered to the ultrasound tech 'where did you see the mass?' and my heart stopped. The next day he had blood tests and an MRI, and we were told our precious boy had a type of cancer called neuroblastoma and our world shattered. That night I cried so hard I thought my heart would break in two.'
The next weeks were a blur of biopsies, scans and blood tests. Teddy's parents were told that his neuroblastoma was metastatic high-risk, with only a 40% chance of survival at diagnosis. Teddy and Alastair spent nearly five weeks moving between three hospitals, while Kat bounced between various hospital accommodations and home with their four-month-old before Teddy was finally discharged after his first round of induction chemotherapy.
Since diagnosis, Teddy has had a central line fitted, a biopsy, multiple general anaesthetics for bone marrow aspirates and scans, 14 NG tube insertions, six gruelling rounds of induction chemotherapy and multiple admissions to his local hospital for fevers. He was also randomised on a trial to receive a tandem transplant, which meant he had two stem cell harvests, two rounds of high-dose chemotherapy and stem cell transplants. The trial that hes on also means he has been randomised to receive additional radiotherapy to his primary tumour, which couldn't be removed with surgery due to its position, so he'll have 20 days of radiotherapy instead of 12.
After this, surgery will be reviewed again, and Teddy will complete his frontline treatment with six months of immunotherapy.
Teddy's family are raising funds for further treatment, either to get their son into remission or to try and keep the cancer away if treatment does go to plan. This could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.
'We can't believe neuroblastoma has such a low survival rate - if we can get Teddy extra treatment not currently available on the NHS which may potentially save his life, and raise awareness of the trials that are out there so in the future they are available to all children, then we have to do it '.
There are many ways you can help Teddy: by making a personal donation; by sharing and following his story on Facebook and Instagram,holding a fundraising event; getting sponsored to take on a challenge.
To donate by text, send TEDDYL followed by any whole amount up to £20 to 70085. This will cost your donation plus your standard network charge. It wont matter if you leave a space before the number, if you include a £ sign or whether you use upper or lower case.
You can make a donation via this page.
If youd like to help to support Teddys campaign, please get in touch with the fundraising team on 0207 284 0800 andfundraising@solvingkidscancer.org.uk
Funds raised will go towards helpingTeddy and his family. If Teddy no longer needs the funds or is in remission five years post the end of successful treatment, the funds will be used to support other children and families affected by neuroblastoma through our activities. For children with high-risk neuroblastoma, like Teddy, the survival rate is much lower than other childhood cancers. Upon relapse, this rate reduces even further.
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