Race against time to aid Zac’s fight for life
Zac Oliver is mad about dinosaurs, loves ice-cream and is a dab hand at taking selfies. But the four-year-old from Broseley is now fighting a race against time, after being diagnosed with one of the rarest forms of leukaemia.
His family, led by his mother Hannah Oliver-Willets her husband Wayne and Zac’s father Mark Garbett, have launched a crowd funding scheme to try to raise £500,000 to pay for ground-breaking treatment in America for the strain of cancer, Near-Haploid.
Doctors in Philadelphia say the Cart T Cell therapy will give Zac a greater chance of survival than chemotherapy or a bone marrow transplant which, at the moment, are his only options in the UK.
Zac’s mother said she realised something was seriously wrong when her son started complaining of pains in his knee and his wrists over a matter of days.
His wrist was put in a cast but Mrs Oliver-Willets’ fears were so strong she persisted to press for blood tests and at one point refused to leave her GP surgery until her son was seen.
When they were seen Zac was sent to Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital where the family says he was lucky that a specialist oncologist happened to be on duty and ordered the necessary blood tests.
He was diagnosed on May 18, when the family’s life changed forever.
She said: “Staff at the Princess Royal have worked tirelessly to save Zac, that has been their entire focus.
“Only 0.5 per cent of children diagnosed with leukaemia suffer from Near-Haploid. We haven’t found another sufferer in the country but there are two in America.”
“Time is not on our side, but we will do everything to give Zac a fighting chance, a long shot is better than no shot at all.”
Mr Garbett also praised the PRH hospital, adding: “We are really lucky that Telford is an oncology level three hospital because it means they can treat the cancer there rather than us having to go to Manchester, Liverpool or Birmingham.”
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He said he was at the stage where he would do anything to save Zac’s life.
“I would take his place, I would sell my soul to the devil to see Zac well again.
“The community has been absolutely fantastic and, although £500,000 is a massive amount of money, if 250,000 people gave just £2 each we would raise it.”
Fundraisers include a charity event at the Ketley Community Centre in Telford on September 16 and a fundraiser at the Dun Cow in Donnington on October 13.
Mr Garbett said: “There are trials in the UK but Zac doesn’t tick the right boxes even though we can show that it is because he has the type of leukaemia that affects his white blood cell count in a different way.”
He said despite intensive chemotherapy Zac retains his sense of humour and enjoys taking selfies.
“He loves ice-cream but the chemotherapy affects his tastebuds so it is only when he is having a break from the treatment that he can really enjoy it.”
To help raise money for Zac go to justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zac-oliver
