Campaign for boy's cancer treatment reaches £150k

The parents of a four-year-old boy with an "aggressive" form of cancer have reached the halfway point of their fundraising campaign in just five months.

Teddy Lichten, from Hassocks in West Sussex was diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma in July 2022, which develops from specialised nerve cells.

He was given a 40% chance of surviving until his eighth birthday.

The family's £300,000 target is required for treatment offered in the US which is unavailable in the UK.

Teddy's mother, Kat Lichten, 34, says her son is aware that he is "poorly" and his treatment has been "very, very aggressive".

"Teddy immediately started a four-month regime of chemotherapy, where he was hooked up to chemotherapy drugs for 24 hours a day for seven to 10 days at a time in hospital," she said.

His parents say their target needs to be reached before the end of 2023 when Teddy finishes frontline treatment with the NHS.

Mrs Lichten said: "When we set out to raise up to £300,000 it seemed an impossible task, but I really believe we can do it now."

Teddy has had two stem-cell transplants, and, if the target is reached, he could receive "life saving" treatment in New York.

"It’s a cancer vaccine and it’s only available at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York,” Mrs Lichten said.

The £300,000 target would pay for the family to take eight trips to America over three years.

Mrs Lichten said "It's been a long slog to £150,000 and it's been incredible to see all the support we've had from the community, strangers up and down the country and even abroad."

Mrs Lichten said that trying to raise such a large sum of money has been a "huge burden".

"When your child is diagnosed and you hear that they've got a 40% chance of survival, you want to do absolutely anything in your power to better that."

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