A young Nottinghamshire boy with a rare form of cancer has received a flood of donations to help fund lifesaving treatment in America.
Dawson Willcock, was diagnosed with the liver cancer Hepatoblastoma, at just 15 months old in January.
The cancer is so rare it only affects one in a million children, and it is the same cancer that pop singer Michael Bublé’s son Noah is now recovering from.
On May 17 the family were told Dawson’s chemotherapy was having no effect, his lung tumours had increased in size, and his cancer had become resistant to further chemotherapy.
His mum Wendy Willcock, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, described how her family’s world fell apart when they were told of the diagnosis.
The 31-year-old said: “On my birthday, January 24, it was confirmed Dawson had the rare form of cancer.
“He had several treatments of chemotherapy and was planned to go to Birmingham to have part of the tumour removed from his liver, but then after a routine CT scan we were told the cancer had spread to his lungs. He now has five tumours on them and they are continuing to grow.
“We couldn’t bring ourselves to see or even hear how large the tumours were becoming on his lungs. We wouldn’t have been able to stomach it, it’s the last thing you want to hear as a parent.”
The 20-month-old’s cancer was discovered after he lost a lot of weight and developed a large swelling in his abdomen in October last year.
After several appointments with a GP Dawson was taken to King’s Mill Hospital, where within minutes he was given a scan, which showed a large tumour on his liver.
Wendy said: “A doctor came out and broke the news to me and everything just started falling apart.”
Dawson was taken to the Queen’s Medical Centre the next morning where blood tests showed his AFP count, an indicator of cancer, was 1.4 million – when 400,000 is considered very high.
“We discovered after more rounds of chemotherapy that the tumours had in fact grown, it just showed how aggressive the cancer was,” Wendy added.
The mother-of-three said they were then told to start thinking about where Dawson would live his final days, at home or in the hospital.
She added: “They said we had to think about if we wanted a better quality of life or longer length of life for him. You can’t even imagine making those decisions as a parent, its heart-breaking.”
Now the Willcocks have launched a Dollar for Dawson appeal – hoping to raise £500,000 to fly Dawson to Cincinnati, in the USA, for treatment from top paediatric haematologist-oncologist Dr James Geller, after finding out about the specialist through a Facebook group.
“So many people have spoken highly of Doctor Geller, he has cured many children who were terminal. We’re not sure of what special facilities he has but our consultant has made contact with him and she is doing everything she can to get him to help us.
“We started raising the money now as we are running out of time, as soon as we have the go from Doctor Gellwr and Dawson is well enough to fly we will be on our way. So far we have nearly £57,000.”
Mansfield Town Football club announced they are supporting Dawson in his bid to raise the money.
Manager Steve Evans met with the family at the One Call Stadium on Monday (May 22) and said: “For me it was very humbling to meet young Dawson and his magnificent supportive family.
“I must admit then when I met the young man, he came across as charismatic as young babies often do.
“The more I spoke to the family and learned about their current situation, the more my heart opened up and as people around the stadium will testify when I left the family I immediately broke down in tears and my heart, sympathy and prayers go with them.
“They’re obviously in a time of need, fighting to save their baby boy.
“I, along with the chairman and chief executive and the football club, will be contributing to the appeal and I ask every person, both the football family of Mansfield Town and the wider community, to open your hearts and find even the smallest of donations.
“Every penny may help give this little lad a chance of saving his life.”
The family added they are ‘amazed’ by the generosity of the public in a short space of time said people should not be afraid to give whatever they can afford.
They add if they receive the news Dawson can’t be saved, any money raised will go to good causes, such as other families battling terminal illness.
Mrs Wilcock said Dawson’s condition has also had an impact on her other children, Will Tadman, 14, and Abbie Tadman, 11.
“They both have a great network of friends and everyone has been rallying round them which has been so wonderful for me to see.”
Donations can be made by clicking here.
