Brain Tumour Research is delighted to be able to share the good news that six-year-old brain tumour patient Edie Jackson and her family are to be allowed to travel back to the UK from New York.
International travel restrictions imposed during the coronavirus pandemic had meant the family, from Essex, was stranded in the States where Edie has been taking part in a chemotherapy trial after a crowdfunding campaign raise the £245,000 needed to access the treatment. Edie was diagnosed with a terminal, inoperable Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) brain tumour just four weeks before Christmas. DIPG is the deadliest form of childhood cancer with an average survival of just eight to 12 months.
As the global health crisis deepens, Edie’s parents were dealt a massive blow when they were told they would not be able to fly home. But at the eleventh hour yesterday they were given the good news that, due to their exceptional circumstances, Virgin Atlantic was making special arrangements to repatriate them.
Brain Tumour Research spokesman Hugh Adams said: “We are delighted to hear that Edie and her parents Craig and Lois are coming home and they remain in our thoughts in these very testing times. The Jacksons’ situation is a truly extreme example of the way in which people are being impacted by the global health crisis and we wish them all the best and will continue to support them in any way we can.
“The fact that they have to resort to costly private treatment overseas in the first place is just not good enough and we are calling upon the Government and larger cancer charities to address the lack of funding in this crucial area of cancer research.”
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