
Owain James is crowdfunding
Weʼre raising £250,000 to help fund new treatment options for Owain, which are not available on the NHS #FundsForOwain
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Story
My husband Owain is 34. He’s a football-loving plumber from Caerphilly and together we have a little girl who is 18 months old. In September 2022, out of the blue, Owain was diagnosed with a incurable Grade 4 brain tumour and we were told that if no action was taken, he would have a few months left to live.
At that moment, our lives were turned upside down and we made a promise to each other that we would do anything and everything to have as much time together as we could.
We have gone with everything the NHS has to offer. An incredible team of surgeons at the University Hospital of Wales have removed as much of the tumour as they could without impairing Owain. The course of radiotherapy he is having is using the full amount of radiation one person can have in their lifetime and chemo-wise, he is on the most suitable NHS-approved drug. We are desperate for more time with Owain and there are additional treatments out there that would give us more time, but sadly, they are not available on the NHS.
We have done our research, liaised with our Oncologist and there is hope. Immunotherapy (DC Vax) is a viable option for Owain. It has just completed the phase 3 trial and the clinical evidence shows some really promising results, but it comes at a very high cost. Essentially, a biopsy sample is taken and a vaccine is produced for Owain, specifically to fit his unique tumour. Then his body takes over and fights the cancer itself. The cost of manufacturing the vaccine is £200,000, with additional medical expenses on top.
Optune is also a viable treatment, and available to people in Owain’s situation, in both Germany and the US, but sadly, the NHS does not see it as cost effective. It works in a similar way to radiotherapy, but uses electromagnetic waves to target the tumour. We have an appointment to speak to someone about how much this would cost for Owain, so all we know at the moment is that it’s approximately £20,000 a month.
Brain tumours are the biggest cause of cancer deaths in the under 40’s as there are such limited treatment options available. Not only do we want to have Owain for as long as we possibly can, we also want to make the case for why immunotherapy and Optune should be more readily available in the UK. It may not be deemed as cost effective for the NHS, but to us, he means everything.
Any donation you can make – no matter how small – will get us one step closer to these additional treatments for Owain. Every day is so precious to us, we just really hope we can have more.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for taking the time to read this.
Ellie x
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Updates
9
2 months ago
Owain James
2 months agoHello everyone, just a quick update that Owain's treatment is ongoing even after receiving the best scan results. Owain has multiple IV treatments on a weekly basis, this is him having DCA which is a really exciting treatment and will hopefully tackle the cancer stem cells. We are also sending some of Owain's tumour tissue off for fungi testing, which could open up some more treatment options. As our doctors tell us, keep doing whatever you're doing because it's working. Thank you so much for your support!
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3 months ago
Owain James
3 months agoAn update from Owain: So, I got my scan results back and it shows there’s no active cancer cells and the cyst has shrunk and is shrinking! The best possible result in such a short space of time💪🏼 I would like to thank my incredibly amazing wife who I owe everything to as she pretty much saved my life. The amazing Kate who comes to the house every week for my IV treatments & Emma & Harry at Cryocube who look after me when having hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Onwards and Upwards and love you all 💙💙💙
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3 months ago
Owain James
3 months agoApologies for the delay in providing an update - it has been a busy few months! We had an amazing scan result in March and are soon to receive the next scan results. See our facebook group FundsForOwain to view a video we posted about the scan result. Owain is doing really well in himself and we genuinely believe this is all down to the treatments we have been able to fund privately. He is on a host of supplements, IV treatments, regular hyperbaric oxygen therapy & I am even injecting him 3 times a week with mistletoe therapy. Thank you!
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Owain James started crowdfunding
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Supporters
2494
Anonymous
Sep 20, 2023
Wish you all the best. Keep fighting
£25.00
K Sagoo
Sep 7, 2023
Good luck. I hope and pray you get enough money and the treatment works ❤️🙏
£30.00
Anonymous
Aug 8, 2023
£25.00
From Isaac llewellyn - sponsored superhero walk (nursery) ❤️
Aug 2, 2023
£81.00
Scott, Emma & Coby
Jul 31, 2023
All the very best!! X
£10.00
Sophie Rohleder
Jul 26, 2023
Jason
Jul 26, 2023
£5.00

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Crowdfunding is a new type of fundraising where you can raise funds for your own personal cause, even if you're not a registered nonprofit.
The page owner is responsible for the distribution of funds raised.
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