The Mandabva family, from Buckingham, created the fundraising campaign three days ago and have now raised enough money for their sons life saving treatment.
In early June 2019 Dean Mandabva, a fit, eleven-year-old boy, bright, clever and full of life, fell at school playing football. Tests diagnosed him with a brain tumour.
His parents were told that their young son‘s life could be cut short due to a high grade Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) – the deadliest form of childhood cancer.
After various scans and tests, Dean was moved to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford where they were told that his tumour was inoperable. He then went under 30 sessions of radiotherapy, which meant Dean could return to school, but in February this year the tumour returned.
With there being no further treatments available on the NHS, Dean's parents decided to research all the other available options. They discovered that Dendritic Cell Therapy (a form of immunotherapy involving a cancer vaccine made from your own blood) is currently available in Germany and Spain.
This treatment, which stands at a costly £50,000, will hopefully shrink the tumour and give Dean the chance to live a normal life, play again with his friends and live into adulthood.
The £50,000 has been raised by over 2,000 donors in just three days. Dean's family will be speaking to the doctors in Spain today, and have shared their gratitude towards the public's generosity.
People will be kept updated via both the GoFundMe page and via Dean's Brave Fight on Facebook #DeansBraveFight.
