GoFundMe: Gosport mum desperate to give terminally ill son independence by buying wheelchair accessible car

Emily Ancill, from Gosport, is determined to make sure that her son has the chance to be independent despite his life-limiting cancer diagnosis.

Jamie Ancill, 14, was diagnosed with a grade 4 metastatic medulloblastoma brain tumour in August 2020 – and his diagnosis came as a complete shock.

The teenager, who is based in Gosport, had been suffering with headaches, nausea and dizziness, but due to the pandemic, it proved extremely difficult to get to the bottom of the problem, and the doctors believed that the symptoms were being caused by migraines.

Emily was advised to take him to the opticians – she managed to get an appointment at Whiteley Specsavers who wanted to try out a new machine which took pictures of the back of Jamie’s eyes.

The optician told Emily that Jamie needed to go to hospital urgently for a CT scan and she realised that it was bad news when she was taken into a private room with a doctor and a nurse.

The doctor confirmed that it was a cancerous tumour at the back of Jamie’s head and that he needed to be transferred to Southampton immediately which is where he had to have serious brain surgery two days later.

Following a second brain tumour, which lasted ten hours, Jamie recovered in the picu ward, which is where he stayed for two weeks before he was moved to the neuro rehab ward.

Emily said: “The tumour – they took out most of it but there are parts of the tumour left so when it spreads, it will spread all around his body like wild fire and he could have months left.

"Where he has autism he doesn’t really understand what is happening and that is probably the hardest thing – we decided a while ago not to tell him that it could spread.

"The average life expectancy is not great for someone with Jamie’s diagnosis.”

SEE ALSO: Spotify has officially released its wrap up of the year - here is what you can expect

Doctors and nurses anticipated that it would be months before he would be able to regain his speech and his mobility – but Jamie proved everyone wrong and his first word was ‘mum’.

Jamie also has autism which has made the whole process extremely confusing for the 14-year-old but he has pushed through and he has also overcome six months of intensive chemotherapy.

He spent three days at a time in Southampton Hospital receiving his treatment and then he would have to travel to Queen Alexandra Hospital for a shot of chemotherapy, which was pumped through his Hickman Line.

Jamie was never given a break and he suffered from infection after infection as a result of having his immune system stripped away because of the chemotherapy and he was exhausted throughout the duration of his treatment.

Emily said: “He kept getting infections every single time. He lost his immune system, he lost a lot of weight and he was stick thin.

"It has been a journey to say the least. I think the worst thing for him was the lack of sleep because he was in so much pain. Every single part of his body just hurt all the time.”

Despite the two ten-hour brain surgeries and gruelling chemotherapy treatment and radiation, the type of cancer that Jamie has been diagnosed with is life limiting and the tumour in his brain will spread in time.

Jamie goes for check ups every six months and Emily said that once the tumour starts to spread it will be aggressive and it will target his eyesight, his speech and he will be wheelchair bound completely.

Emily is desperate to make sure that her brave son has the opportunity to be independent while he can and she has managed to secure a powered wheelchair but she needs a vehicle that is accessible.

Emily added: “I just want him to have his independence because that’s what he wants. He wants to be able to go out with his friends.

“He could have asked for anything from me and I would try my best to get it for him but he said ‘mum I just want to be able to see my friends’ and I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.”

Once Jamie has the chance to use his powered wheelchair, he will be able to go out with his friends without his mum pushing his wheelchair.

Emily has set up a GoFundMe page in a bid to pay for the new vehicle that she will be getting for Jamie.

So far, the fundraiser has had £2,675 worth of donations, but there is still a long way to go to reach the target which is £20,000.

To make a donation to this fundraiser, click here.

To follow Jamie’s story, click here.