Katie and Graham Tatham are battling to raise enough money for their cancer-stricken son Ralph to to be treated in the US, where organ transplant wait times are shorter
A Chingford mother and father are racing to raise £1million before the end of the year to fund a desperately needed multi-organ transplant in the United States for their three-year-old son.
Katie and Graham Tatham’s son Ralph has been diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer called hepatoblastoma and has been waiting seven months for a suitable donor.
Ralph has so far battled eleven rounds of chemotherapy, numerous blood transfusions, and an operation and recovery for an aborted liver transplant. As Katie and Graham state, the chemotherapy that has been keeping his cancer at bay is starting to become “ineffective”.
Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital advised Ralph’s parents that he would stand a greater chance of survival if they all moved to the United States where the donor pool is larger, and parental consent for child organ donation is higher.
A transplant in the US has been quoted as over £1m which has prompted his parents to launch a GoFundMe, which has so far raised £463,804 from 14,600 donations.
In an Instagram post about their family’s plight, the couple describe Ralph as “a gorgeous, funny and energetic 3-year-old who loves nothing more than playing with his cars, running in the park and helping look after his new baby brother”.
They add: “We ask upon your amazing generosity to help us raise the funds needed to give little Ralph the future he deserves. Time couldn’t be more of the essence, and every contribution will bring us a step closer to giving him this opportunity at life.”
You can donate to Ralph’s GoFundMe appeal here, and follow Ralph’s Campaign on Instagram
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