Aubrey's Wish

Our beautiful, cheeky and energetic 7 year old son Aubrey has been diagnosed with a fast growing and in-operable form of cancer called a Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.

It is incredibly rare (1 in 450,000) affecting between 20 - 30 children in the UK each year and develops in an area of the brain called the Pons which is responsible for basic functions such as breathing, heartbeat, swallowing, eyesight and balance. The 5 year survival rate is currently 1%.

Amidst the shock and devastation of this diagnosis we have all felt incredibly supported by our family and friends and the wonderful NHS doctors and nurses. Although there is no established treatment pathway for this cancer we want to enable Aubrey to access as many healing modalities as possible in the hope that something can help to reduce the growth of the tumour and potentially initiate its decomposition.

Aubrey is currently receiving a course of radiotherapy which we hope will slow or stop the growth of the tumour for between 6 - 18 months. This will give us time to find a treatment that can help over the longer term.

The avenues we are exploring include :

• Novel drug trials in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world.

• Acupuncture and herbal and mineral remedies based on the Oriental meridian system

• Cranial sacral therapy

The challenge that we face feels huge at the moment. We know that across the UK and around the world there are other families and friends who are experiencing a similar sense of shock and disbelief that such a profound and currently untreatable condition has arrived in their lives – out of nowhere! But we live in HOPE.

Hope is what is keeping us going, to keep finding the positives in this very difficult place. Hope and support from you – our family, friends and wider community is what will find a way to give Aubrey more time to live and enjoy life, and give us all more time to help find a cure for this devastating disease.

Many forms of cancer were once thought to be untreatable, but now there are many survivors. Leukaemia is a good example where survival rates are now at around 85%. In the UK and around the world there is now a growing push to find a cure for DIPG, which is almost exclusively a cancer that affects children.

Now one of those children is our boy, Aubrey and he needs as much support as we can muster. Aubrey’s Wish is simple – he just wants to get back to how life was before the 23rd of February – he wants to be well, he wants to be able to walk un-aided, he wants to kick a football around and go to the playground with his brothers and sisters.

We desperately want to make his wish a reality, but we can’t do this on our own. Please help us to raise the funds that we need to access clinical trials and pay for potential treatments that could make a difference and help turn the tide of finding an effective cure for Aubrey.

With our deepest thanks and gratitude,

Sam, Andrew, India, Joe, Grace, Gus and Lonnie