The Sammut family, who live in Sydney’s north-west suburb of Stanhope Gardens, is seeking help and assistance from the public for getting their 10-year-old son, Harry, access to a rare cancer treatment that could save his life.
Harry Sammut was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in 2022, a month before his ninth birthday. Neuroblastoma is a paediatric cancer that affects the nerve system and is typically detected in children under five.
Harry’s mother, Julia, was beginning to lose hope for her son after he received inhumane treatment in rounds upon rounds with no change in his condition. Then, they learned that Harry was qualified for a clinical trial in the US, where he would have access to DFMO, a medication that might save his life.
“In the lead-up to his diagnosis, Harry had complained of stomach pains, he no longer wanted to play sports, felt weird jumping on the trampoline and ached all over,” explains his mum Julia.
“As soon as his blood test results came back, his GP called and said Harry needed to go straight to hospital.”
Since then, Harry has had chemotherapy, surgery, two bone marrow transplants, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, all bringing side effects ranging from nausea and loss of appetite to nerve pain, muscular pain, mucositis and skin discomfort.
“I’ve left my job to become Harry’s full-time carer, as he’s hardly attended school and has had to spend weeks at a time in a hospital room during his bone marrow transplant,” Julia said.
“I feel like we are running out of options for Harry here in Australia. DFMO has had promising results and recently been approved by the FDA in the United States, but no clinical trials are available for it here.
“The cost for our family to make the decision to take our sick child out of Australia to do a trial like this is expensive, but time is running out for Harry. We’re pleading with the community to please help us get to the US and try to save our son,” Julia said.
Help the Sammuts raise the $130,000 needed to pay for their flights and medical expenses by donating to their fundraising page at:
https://treat.rarecancers.org.
Save a life: Sydney family seeks community assistance to access childhood cancer drug trial added by Indian newspaper Sydney on
View all posts by Indian newspaper Sydney →