Brad's Brain Battle

On 30th June, our beautiful, brave boy Bradley (17yrs) was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Just over two weeks prior (14.06.22) Brad, who has been battling Crohn’s disease since September 2020, was admitted to hospital after waking with a headache, slurry speech and having trouble swallowing and with balance. These symptoms quickly escalated to losing the use of his right side, including his face, and double vision in his left eye. It was believed Brad was suffering a stroke. Time was now critical, but after many tests no evidence of a stroke could be found. Bradley was then blue-lighted to Addenbrookes Hospital where we were told to prepare for a rough few days, but nothing could have prepped us for what we were about to face.

On 19th June, Bradley underwent 10-hours of major brain surgery. The surgeon was able to remove 40% of the mass on his brain, and take 3 biopsies. 33 staples then placed Brad back together. After a few gruelling days in intensive care, Brad was later discharged.

After what had already been a brutal few weeks, Bradley was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The biopsy stated he had a Stage 4 Diffuse Midline Glioma on the pons area of his brain stem. Our world shattered, and only fell apart further when we were told it was inoperable due to its position and size. His tumour is classed as H3K27M Mutant which means it's extremely aggressive and fast growing.

We were told to take Brad home and spend some quality time as a family, making as many memories as we could in the 4 weeks before radiotherapy was going to commence. Shortly after the diagnosis, Brad’s treatment was deemed urgent and therefore brought forward to 11 July. Radiotherapy is an intensive treatment lasting for 6.5 weeks and he has to attend Addenbrookes every day Monday-Friday for treatment. It is a 100 mile round trip taking 3-4 hours daily.

Currently there is not a cure, and the average survival is just 9 months. Statistically he has a 10% chance of surviving 2 years, and a 2% chance of surviving 5 years. We want Bradley in that 2% to give us more time to help find a cure so he can live longer.

The only Standard of Care the NHS can offer Bradley is radiotherapy and sometimes chemotherapy (we have not been offered chemo yet) but there are more options out there that are helping other kids to live longer. Unfortunately, they are only available privately and come at a very very high cost. We are looking into treatments in Germany and the US, as well as trials that are taking place in the UK and elsewhere abroad. To give a rough estimate of costs, the trial drug treatment in Germany called ONC201 costs around £5000 per month, and that’s without the additional costs that will come with travelling there. If and when he can travel, insurance will come at an incredibly high cost too, so we need to make sure we can cover this also.

We want to raise money to not only provide Brad with special days out and help fulfil his bucket list whilst he can, but to help fund important consultations needed to discuss all possible treatment avenues that are not available to us via the NHS. If you can offer absolutely any contribution towards his ongoing treatment, care costs and support for the family, we would be eternally grateful. We are constantly looking for treatments, so any information or knowledge regarding Bradley’s cancer would be hugely welcomed. As you can imagine we are completely heartbroken, Bradley is the strongest, most positive young lad with a deep passion for football and cars. Even when telling Brad the worst possible news, he acted courageously and gave us the hope we needed as parents to go out there and find him some potential treatment.

We will actively update this page with Brad’s progress, and we thank you all for your support.