{"id":189975,"date":"2018-10-22T14:35:19","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T19:35:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=189975"},"modified":"2018-10-20T22:14:01","modified_gmt":"2018-10-21T03:14:01","slug":"stranger-donates-united-kingdom-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/stranger-donates-united-kingdom-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Stranger gives \u00a3100,000 for UK boy to get life-saving cancer treatment in U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last May, four-year-old Zac Oliver, who lives in the United Kingdom, was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. After his family learned that potentially life-saving treatment would not be covered by their medical provider, they turned to their community.<\/p>\n

The result was an amazing fundraising effort that involved everything from local bake sales to large donations by celebrities like Simon Cowell. The Daily Mail reports<\/a> that the family succeeded in raising an astonishing \u00a3500,000 — or over $650,000 — after a mystery donor contributed \u00a3100,000. With the money raised, Zac\u2019s parents, Hannah Oliver-Willets and Mark Garbett, will be able to fly him to the United States to undergo treatment with a specialist.<\/p>\n

Zac suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and he is thought to be the only child in the United Kingdom with the Near-Haploid version of the disease. The condition is so rare that only about 200 children worldwide have it. Nonetheless, the treatment offered by the Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia is promising. The Daily Mail reports that doctors said the 17-week CAR T-cell therapy would improve Zac\u2019s chance of survival from a mere 25 percent, on the only course of treatment available in the United Kingdom, to 60-80 percent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n