Wistaston family’s £120,000 fundraising bid for son’s life-saving treatment

A Wistaston family has launched a bid to raise £120,000 to fund life-saving treatment for their son with a rare form of cancer.

Georgy Capener has been accepted by a specialist in Asia to undergo a stem cell transplant which cannot currently be funded by the NHS.

But his parents Helen and Rich only have until September to raise the £130,000 needed to fund the treatment – and have opened a crowdfunding campaign to try and raise the money.

Georgy, 11, has been battling Ewing’s Sarcoma for more than two years, and has already undergone five rounds of chemo and radiotherapy.

Initial treatment resulted in his right arm being removed which was replaced with a titanium prosthesis.

The Wistaston Church Lane pupil went into remission in March 2019, but in April this year the family was dealt the devastating news that the cancer has returned in his sinus and back of the nose.

Helen said: “Scans showed this horrible and aggressive cancer had already destroyed some of his cheekbone and was growing into the base of his skull.

“Georgy was rushed back into hospital to start preparations for his treatment whilst we waited to hear if he would have a stroke or lose his eyesight immediately.

“Luckily, our brave boy came out as strong as he went in.

“Georgy has now had four rounds of chemotherapy and is currently having radiotherapy but after researching all avenues, we know that his rare and specific condition cannot be treated in the UK, despite the amazing work of his medical team.”

Patients with relapsed Ewing’s Saroma have a very poor prognosis, so Helen and Richard set about a global search for treatment.

And after discussions with specialists at a stem cell transplant hospital in Asia, the team there agreed to accept Georgy as a patient.

Helen added: “The transplant will involve removing the faulty mother cell and harvesting new purified cells from a donated umbilical cord into his body to stop the cancer from returning.

“These procedures have very high success rates.

“Throughout all of Georgy’s treatment we have been absolutely amazed with our NHS, he wouldn’t be here now without them.

“But the cost of this treatment is going to be around the region of £130,000 which simply cannot be funded by our NHS and we really do understand this.

“Georgy has always taken his illness in his stride. He is a well-mannered and courageous young man and has the best sense of humour ever!

“When we told him about the possibility of having this procedure his reply was “will I still have my memory?”

Georgy is due to finish his sixth and final round of chemo by the beginning of September.

It means he would have to start the procedure in Asia straight after that to ensure the cancer does not return straight away.

“It unfortunately gives us very little time to raise this amount,” added Helen.

“We are setting this campaign up with the hope that we can raise some of this amount to help save our son’s life.

“It is our only realistic option and for the first time in a long time we can be positive and see some sort of future.

“Any donations would be greatly appreciated and we will regularly update on here with medical bills and photos when everything is finalised.”

In May, we revealed how friends of the family led by Joanna Edge had set up a month-long campaign to raise funds for Cancer Research UK and to buy Georgy a special gift.

More than £17,000 has been raised in just the first three days of the crowdfund campaign.

Can you help the Capener family?

People and local businesses can donate to the crowdfund here.