Help us fund life changing treatment for Hamish!

In 2019 Hamish was diagnosed with Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (MS) at the age of 28. Up until this diagnosis, Hamish was a fit and healthy man who enjoyed the outdoors and loved to travel. This condition has devastated his life and impacted everything he does, as the initial episode caused paralysis of Hamish’s left hand and leg, leaving him with movement issues and constant pins and needles.

Despite putting on a brave face with friends and family, he struggled with the diagnosis and the impact this condition has had on his life. He experiences difficult nerve pain and burning sensations on both hands and feet, as well as significant fatigue every day.

Due to the progressive nature of MS, these symptoms will get worse with time and due to the placement of the damage to his spinal cord there is a high likelihood of permanent disability. But there is a treatment that can help – and we want to help Hamish to access this.

HSCT (haematopoietic stem cell transplantation) is a one-off treatment that can completely halt MS in its tracks and is currently used to treat cancers such as lymphoma.

Unfortunately, although used to treat cancer and widely known in this way, it is not yet available as a treatment for MS in Scotland, so the only option is to have the treatment abroad which will cost around £50,000.

Hamish is planning on using his savings to fund as much of the treatment himself as he can, and his wife is putting her savings towards it, too. However, it is a significant sum of money and so any contribution to support Hamish at this difficult time would be greatly received.

This treatment will be life changing for him and his family, and potentially even lifesaving.

Please consider donating to help us, so we can support Hamish on the road to recovery!

Current medication (Disease modifying therapy drug)

MS is a condition that affects the central nervous system by attacking the protective insulating coating on the nerves within the brain and spinal cord.

At present, the current medications available in Scotland for MS are all designed to slow down the progression of the condition. These drugs do so by reducing the immune system’s ability to produce T cells and B cells which are part of the system which attacks the nervous system in MS. However, these drugs also reduce the body’s ability to fight regular viruses due to the impact they have on the immune system. There are also no long-term studies undertaken on the toxic effects that these drugs have on the body and so there is potential for long-term side effects.

The drug Hamish is on right now is not very effective, the last peer-reviewed study showed an effectiveness of just 44%. But these results merely mean that 44% of people have reduced progression - not that there was no progression. They also have significant side effects such as turning bright red for two hours a day as a reaction to the medications, as well as potential for a brain infection known as PML which would likely kill Hamish due to his reduced immune system caused by taking the medication.

As such, Hamish has been proactive in trying to find an alternative treatment that offers better results and wants to undertake this haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) treatment in the hopes of a brighter future.