John and Vicky Inglis with son Jamie

John and Vicky Inglis with son Jamie

Australia – New Zealand out.08/12/2010 – UK.How we raised Ã?£400,000 in less than a year to save our little boy’s life with pioneering U.S. cancer research..When four-year-old Jamie Inglis was diagnosed with a highly aggressive form of cancer, his parents faced a seemingly impossible challenge: find Ã?£400,000 for a lifesaving procedure or consign their little boy to a probable death sentence. .John Inglis, 38, and his 35-year-old wife Vicky were told that their sonÃ?â?¢s neuroblastoma was so advanced he stood less than a 30 per cent chance of surviving..But while researching JamieÃ?â?¢s condition on the internet, the couple found out about a pioneering antibody treatment in the U.S. which could dramatically improve the odds Ã? at a price..So Mr and Mrs Inglis set up an online appeal, went out with collection buckets and asked for help from strangers in Yorkshire and in Germany, where they were stationed with the Army when Jamie was diagnosed. .Colleagues in the forces took up the challenge with fundraising events and coffee mornings. One group cycled hundreds of miles to raise cash, another woman handed over all her 60th birthday money, a stranger donated Ã?£8,500 from a trust fund and one charity gave more than Ã?£40,000..Ã?â?It really was unbelievable,Ã?â?¢ said Mrs Inglis at the familyÃ?â?¢s home in York. Ã?â?What happened was truly humbling and we will never be able to thank everyone properly.Ã?â?¢..There was a strict deadline for the family to find the money, as Jamie had to begin the antibody procedures in Philadelphia within 100 days of undergoing a stem cell transplant operation in Germany Ã? and the bill had to be settled before treatment could start. .Mr Inglis, an environmental health technician with the Royal Medical Corps, said: Ã?â?We never thought we could do it at first. Jamie was so sick and the doctors advised us that it was such a difficult and stressful undertaking. Ã?â?But we had to try and I treated it like a military operation. We wanted to make people see they were saving a childÃ?â?¢s life.Ã?â?¢.Jamie, now five, was taken ill in April 2009, and a hospital ultrasound revealed he had a large tumour in his abdomen. Tests showed the cancer had already spread through his body. .In the months that followed, he underwent eight courses of chemotherapy in a Dusseldorf hospital, spent time on a ventilator in intensive care and had an operation to remove the tumour and a kidney. .A ninth high-dose course of chemotherapy was designed to kill any remaining cancer cells and Ã?â?totally wipe outÃ?â?¢ his white blood cells, which fight disease..Then, in January this year, stem cells harvested from his body months earlier were transplanted back into his body to Ã?â?rejuvenateÃ?â?¢ his immune system. Photo Shows: FIVE YEAR OLD JAMIE INGLIS WITH PARENTS VICKI AND JOHN INGLIS AT THEIR HOME IN FULFORD NEAR YORK, EAST YORKS.- JAMIE SUFFERS FROM A RARE FORM OF CANCER NEUROBLASTOMA..Ã?©James Curley/Whitehotpix (Credit Image: © Whitehotpix/ZUMAPRESS.com)