A five-year-old kid's leukemia battle, which touched the hearts of the British public, has fundraised £500,000 for his treatment in only three weeks.
Prior this year, Oscar Saxelby-Lee underwent a stem cell transplant from a viral organ donor search where thousands of people from across the UK line up for a public event in Worcester to list in a bid to help.
However, the ailment has returned and left Oscar's folks scrambling to raise half a million British pounds for a CAR-T clinical examination in Singapore.
According to NIH National Cancer Institute, CAR-T is a type of treatment wherein the patient's immune system cell would be modified by the specialists to attack the carcinogenic cells in the human body.
The five-year-old patient was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. It is challenging to treat the Big C, which made Oscar be admitted to the Birmingham Children's Hospital for the past nine months.
Oscar can't get any further treatment through the NHS and would be qualified for another stem cell transplant a year after his first treatment.
While the NHS offers treatment for different kinds of leukemia, it is yet to do as such for the type of leukemia Oscar had. According to his family, the only option left for the five-year-old patient was the CAR-T therapy in Singapore.
After weeks of appealing, Oscar was expecting to go to Singapore as soon as possible in order for him to be tested and ensure that he's well and fit for the CAR-T.
His folks encouraged individuals to continue raising money, so as to give Oscar a contingency fund since the journey that the family faced hasn't gone smoothly.
Oscar's mother said they needed more treatment and has to receive further tests while they have been fundraising to keep leukemia at bay.
Afterwards, Oscar's parents, Jaime and Olivia, were astonished after the large sum was brought up in less than a month as they noticed people were uniting to raise the amount of money needed.
Oscar's family said in a statement that it has been heartwarming to see the schools, businesses, and other individuals giving all they could.
Now that the funds were up, Oscar is waiting for the laboratory results from his medical team, which would decide for the next steps they would do.
"When the best treatment plan for Oscar is confirmed by his medical team, having this funding will allow us to move very quickly," Oscar's parents said.
The family added they were "absolutely gobsmacked" with the number of support they have received since the word has passed on.
Jaime and Olivia likewise thanked the donors from the people of Worcestershire and beyond for doing everything they could to save the little boy.
According to a BBC News Report, Olivia said recognizing that many people out there who are willing to save Oscar is "a million times" better than winning the lottery.
She added the journey "would be scary," but they are prepared as Oscar "got the strength to pull through" the challenge he is currently facing.