Last Monday 2 and a half yr old Bertie went to his GP with sickness and unsteadiness on his feet.

The GP sent him straight to the hospital where a scan showed he had a large, fast growing brain tumour called an ependymoma.

The following day he underwent a 6 hour operation to remove the tumour from the back of his brain. The operation went well and the surgeons are hopeful they managed to remove all the visible tumour.

Bertie has responded brilliantly and is recovering well, but in order to prevent the cancer from coming back, he now needs a specialised form of radiotherapy (Proton Beam Therapy) not currently available in the UK. Thankfully he can get the treatment in Florida, America.

Bertie will need to be in Florida for 8 weeks and undergo 6 weeks of treatment. During the treatment he will have the weekends to recover, but during the week will have to spend 3 and a half hours in hospital and go under general anaesthetic everyday!

We have set up this fund to try and raise money to help Gemma and Claire fund the trip to America. The brilliant NHS is covering the cost of Bertie’s treatment and travel, but Gemma and Claire will need to cover their expenses while they’re there, whilst still covering their mortgage and bills at home. They will also be travelling with Bertie’s little brother, 10 month old Sebastian. We want to help make the stay as comfortable and as like home as possible for all of them.

They will be in America over Christmas, so we would love to be able to raise enough to make their Christmas a special one. If possible we’d love to be able to send some of their family to join them for the festive period too.

Enabling Bertie to receive this treatment will have a drastically positive effect on his outlook and the rest of his life.

I cannot even begin to explain how brave, courageous and positive Gemma and Claire have been for gorgeous Bertie over the past week. Please give generously so we can do everything we can to help them all through this difficult time and get Bertie on the road to recovery and back to his usual beautiful, kind and vibrant self!

You can do it Bertie!