Help Riley Get Life-Saving brain Surgery

Australia, I am begging for your help. 

My son Riley has a life-threatening brain tumour. His only chance to survive is  specialised surgery overseas - and we have just 11 days left to raise the funds. 

Without this surgery, Riley will Die 

We are running out of time.

Riley has lived under the weight of this life-threatening brain tumour for 20 years. 

And yet, he has never complained. 

As the tumour has progressed, it has begun to affect Riley physically. He has lost vision in his left eye and is now partially blind on that side. More recently, he has started to lose strength and muscle function. 

These changes have been confronting, but Riley continues to face them with quiet courage. Because of the tumour's location in the brainstem, this surgery is extremely complex. The neurosurgeon willing and able to attempt it is Professor Charlie Teo, and the procedure must be performed in China. The total cost is $80,000, and the funds must be raised by March 1st in order for Riley to proceed.

When my son was just two years old, our world shattered.

He was diagnosed with what doctors believed was an inoperable diffuse brainstem tumour and we were told to prepare for the worst. We were given six months with our beautiful little boy.

Six months.

He underwent chemotherapy, which thankfully slowed the tumour’s growth, but we lived for years under the shadow of a diagnosis that said there was no hope. We were told nothing more could be done.

But six months passed…Then a year…Then ten…Then fifteen.

At 17, the tumour began progressing again and he endured another course of chemotherapy. And that’s when something became very clear.

This was never the aggressive, malignant tumour we were told it was.

Today, my son is 21 years old. He is here. He is alive. He is strong. And we now know the original diagnosis was likely wrong.

The tumour is progressing again, and this time we refused to accept the same answer.

We sought the opinion of Professor Charlie Teo, the neurosurgeon we asked to see 20 years ago, but were told back then he wouldn’t be able to help.

He looked at my son’s scans and gave us something we were never given before:

Hope.

He believes this tumour is a benign JPA (juvenile pilocytic astrocytoma), a type of tumour that can potentially be removed completely.

He has been incredibly honest about the risks. Brainstem surgery is delicate and complex. But for the first time in 20 years, there is a real chance, not to slow it, not to manage it, but to remove it.

And we cannot ignore that chance.

Unfortunately, due to his inability to operate in Australia, this surgery must take place in China, and the costs are beyond anything we can manage on our own.

We need to raise $80,000 to cover:

Hospital and surgical fees

Specialist medical team costs

Flights and accommodation overseas

This is not cosmetic. This is not optional. This is not experimental hope.

This is the only person in the world willing to try to save my son’s life.

As a parent, I cannot accept watching this tumour continue to grow when there is someone willing and able to remove it.

Riley is gentle, selfless, and quietly brave. He carries more than anyone his age ever should, and he does it with grace. He has never asked, "Why me?" He has simply kept going. As his mum, all I want is to give my beautiful son the chance to keep living — a chance he has fought for his entire life.

I am asking for help because I will do absolutely anything to give my son the chance he was denied 20 years ago.

If you can donate, share, or simply keep us in your thoughts, it means more than you could ever know.

Thank you for helping me fight for my son’s future.