Parents of 10-year-old Northampton boy with rare cancer 'massively overwhelmed' as fundraiser reaches £175,000

The family of a 10-year-old boy with a rare form of cancer are 'massively overwhelmed' after raising £175,000 to help with medical treatment.

On August 16, Weston Favell Primary schoolboy Jesse Mansfield was diagnosed at Northampton General Hospital with high risk Acute Myeloid Leukaemia (AML), which affects around 100 children a year.

Jesse was not at first responding to treatment, so his dad Dave Mansfield and mum Zoe set up a fundraiser as a 'plan b' in case their son needed to travel abroad for private treatment. In the course of two months the total funds raised are a staggering £175,000 from over 3,000 donors.

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Reacting to the support, Dave said: "We're just blown away. The treatment we were having at that point wasn't working so I needed a plan b, some sort of safety net for if we have to start looking outside the UK and further afield.

"It's mainly been word of mouth. I work up and down the country. We know a lot of people in Northampton. A lot of people have family, friends, colleagues have jumped on board and decided they want to do their bit to help. The reach the fundraiser has had is unreal. It's just massively overwhelming. It's given us a massive boost. It's given Jesse a massive boost.

"Some of the videos we've managed to get from celebrities or famous footballers really, really do kind of galvanise us.

"Thank you all to have supported and donated to Jesse’s fund - nothing changes from here, we still need raise as much money as possible as Jesse’s Journey is far from over but we may have some light at the end of what has been a very dark and scary tunnel."

Celebrities who have wished Jesse well include Ledley King, Ivan Toney, Abbey Clancy, Paddy McGuiness, Carney Chukwuemeka and Steve Thompson.

Dave said Jesse was allowed out of the hospital for the first time since he was diagnosed on August 16, which 'felt like Christmas Day'.

He said: "Jesse was allowed out of the hospital on Friday afternoon to the toy shop for a few hours. This was the first time since admission that Jesse has been outside of hospital - felt like Christmas Day!

"Jesse chose to go to the Birmingham Sealife Centre on Monday afternoon, he had such a nice time and finally a small slice of normality. It’s amazing what you take for granted, but this has given us all a massive lift and a renewed energy to get though this horrible phase of our lives.

"It looks like a combination of the trial drug and the latest round of chemotherapy have given us some positivity, which we haven't had for three and a half months since we started this journey. Everything had been bad news. To get a bit of positivity and a day and a half out the hospital is just unbelievable.

"Jesse is now on his latest round of chemotherapy which lasts around three weeks and results will be discovered in January time.

"All being well Jesse will have a stem cell transplant in Birmingham in January 2023."