‘If we don’t go soon, he won’t be here next Xmas’ – brave Ralph, 3, needs £1m for multi-organ transplant in US
AS three-year-old Ralph Tatham excitedly counts the sleeps until Santa, his parents face the agonising fear that this Christmas could be his last.
The tot desperately needs a £1million multi-organ transplant in America if he is to have any chance of beating a rare cancer.
And while most kids hope to find toys under the tree on Monday, Ralph just wants to live.
He has already had 11 rounds of gruelling chemotherapy in a bid to cure the disease in his liver.
But a planned transplant was scrapped as medics discovered it wouldn’t work unless he also got a new pancreas and intestine.
Now, mum Katie and dad Graham, both 35, are hoping a Christmas miracle can take Ralph to the States, where the complex surgery is routine.
Celebrities including Piers Morgan and Gillian McKeith are urging readers to donate what they can to help the family, of Chingford, Essex, hit their target.
Katie said of her son: “He’s living on borrowed time. I would do anything to switch places with him. If we don’t go (to the US) soon, he won’t be here next Christmas.
“His body is becoming resistant to chemo and he’s reaching his max toxicity level.
“When it stops working the cancer will spread and we won’t be able to do anything to save our child.”
Finding an organ match for Ralph is complicated by the fact the intestine for transplant must come from another child his size, which is unlikely in the UK given how small the donor pool is.
In America, the chances of identifying a suitable candidate are much higher.
Katie revealed they have already waited seven months for Ralph’s surgery and say time is now running out.
The toddler first started showing signs of illness in early December last year, and initially the family was told he had an infection.
Yet within weeks they learned he had liver cancer, devastating Graham and Katie, who was pregnant with second child Albie, now five months.
Doctors realised Ralph had heptoblastoma, which affects just two in every million children across the UK each year.
Surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London initially thought a liver transplant would save him and quickly found a match.
But after getting the tot into theatre, they realised his cancer had spread, meaning the transplant was doomed to fail — and Ralph’s chances of survival plummeted.
However if he travels to America — where medical centres in California, Boston, Miami and Nebraska all perform the op — his prognosis will change in a matter of hours as the cancer should be removed, placing him in remission.
Graham said: “Any parent of a child with cancer knows the dread you live with every day.
“Ralph is running around and playing but that could all stop the moment his chemotherapy stops working. When that happens, the cancer will spread very quickly.”
The family plan to use all their savings to fund as much of Ralph’s care as possible but, sadly, it won’t be enough without public backing.
Katie said: “Ralph would love to be able to grow up and play with his friends.
“At the moment he lives in isolation, as the smallest infection can make him sick, which would take him off the transplant list.”
Supporting the fundraiser, TV host and Sun writer Piers said: “I can’t think of a more deserving cause than getting brave little Ralph the treatment he so desperately needs.
“I urge anyone who can donate in any way, small or big, to do so without delay so he and his family can get the Christmas present they most want.”
Presenter and mum Gillian added: “It’s heartbreaking to hear about any child with cancer, especially when their life is at risk.
“I urge anyone who has any money to spare to donate to Ralph’s fundraiser to give him a chance at living a full life.”