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The family of five-year-old boy who’s been battling leukemia for the last three-and-a-half years are desperately trying to raise £1 million so they can take him to the US for an experimental treatment that is his ‘last chance’. 

Dillan Ramsey-Aksehir was diagnosed in May 2020 at just a year old and told he had a 93 per cent chance of survival. 

He was forced to go through three years of intense chemotherapy that made life ‘hell’ for him and his family and they initially thought he had beaten the illness. 

However, he relapsed in August 2022 and then again in March and August this year.

Before the shocking ordeal, mother-of-three Amy Ramsey, 37, from London, thought her happy football-loving son had a sprain and bruises from kicking a ball around -before a diagnosis revealed the truth. 

Speaking to MailOnline, Amy said the last few years have been traumatic as Dillan had to undergo a bone marrow transplant as well as the chemotherapy. 

Now, doctors have run out of options in the UK and the family has flown to Washington in the US for further treatment. 

 

Dillan Ramsey-Aksehir is still all smiles despite battling Leukemia for the last three-and-a-half years. The five-year-old was diagnosed at age one in May 2020

Dillan Ramsey-Aksehir is still all smiles despite battling Leukemia for the last three-and-a-half years. The five-year-old was diagnosed at age one in May 2020

Speaking to MailOnline, mum-of-three Amy, from London, said she's in 'fight mode' as the family flies to the US after running out of treatment options in the UK. 'I won't stop until I find a cure. It's been years of hell watching my child suffer,' she said (family pictured)

Speaking to MailOnline, mum-of-three Amy, from London, said she’s in ‘fight mode’ as the family flies to the US after running out of treatment options in the UK. ‘I won’t stop until I find a cure. It’s been years of hell watching my child suffer,’ she said (family pictured)

Dillan has relapsed three times despite having chemotherapy for two years and a bone marrow transplant

Dillan has relapsed three times despite having chemotherapy for two years and a bone marrow transplant 

The family is seeking £1million in GoFundMe donations to cover treatment, accommodation, flights, insurance, living costs in the US and bills back home. Already more than half the cost has been covered. 

‘I am in fight mode, I won’t stop until I find a cure. It’s been years of hell watching my child suffer, and everyone else around me including myself. We need a break and we need a cure,’ Amy said. 

‘I am really hoping this is the missing piece to the puzzle. America is ten years ahead of the UK in medical treatment. Everything is so expensive here, but also way more advanced.’ 

Treatment in the US started on October 19 and Dillan will likely remain there for a month before going back to London for one last bone marrow transplant. 

Amy said this will consolidate the remission he will hopefully gain from the American treatment trial. 

‘This is our last chance, we had no other options. The hospital helped us find this trial in America so we packed our bags within three weeks, took all three kids and left. My mum came with us she kindly took time off work to help us out,’ Amy said. 

Little Dillan hasn’t lived a carefree life compared to other toddlers and has spent countless days within hospital walls.  

Before the youngster was diagnosed Amy noticed he started waking up in the middle of the night screaming as if he was in pain.

‘I took him to the doctors, they checked him over and put it down to nightmares or sleep regression. They just couldn’t find anything wrong with him,’ Amy said.

‘A week later he started to limp and he had bruising on his legs. He’s quite boisterous and loves football so we just assumed he kicked something by mistake.’

She took Dillan back to the doctor who told her ‘it looks like a sprain and because of his age will heal in a week or two’.

Treatment in the US started on October 19 and Dillan will likely remain there for a month before going back to London for one last bone marrow transplant. 'This is our last chance, we had no other options,' Amy said

Treatment in the US started on October 19 and Dillan will likely remain there for a month before going back to London for one last bone marrow transplant. ‘This is our last chance, we had no other options,’ Amy said

The family is seeking £1million in GoFundMe donations to cover treatment, accommodation, flights, insurance, living costs in the US and bills back home. Already more than half the cost has been covered

The family is seeking £1million in GoFundMe donations to cover treatment, accommodation, flights, insurance, living costs in the US and bills back home. Already more than half the cost has been covered

Though little did Amy and partner Oguz Aksehir know their world was about to be turned upside down. 

A few days later, Oguz noticed Dillan had ‘really swollen lymph nodes on his neck and jaw’.

‘I booked him in with the doctor again but it was a 48-hour wait to get him seen because at that time Covid was still quite new and everyone was being super cautious,’ Amy said.

It was during that waiting period that Dillan started to get tiny bruises around his eyes.

When the family finally saw a doctor, they were in the room for two minutes and the physician took one look a Dillan and knew exactly what was wrong.

‘We were given two referral letter to got to A&E – one for his leg and one for his lymph nodes and facial bruising,’ Amy said.

‘I remember getting to the hospital and they said that Ozzy couldn’t come in. I thought we’d just get sent home with antibiotics.’

Prior to the tragic ordeal, doctors didn't know what was wrong with Dillan because he was only 12 months old and thought he had a sprain. 'I thought we'd just get sent home with antibiotics,' Amy said

Prior to the tragic ordeal, doctors didn’t know what was wrong with Dillan because he was only 12 months old and thought he had a sprain. ‘I thought we’d just get sent home with antibiotics,’ Amy said 

To this day the 'worst two hours' of the entire ordeal was when doctors confirmed Dillan has a rare form of blood cancer called B-cell leukemia and he would need three-and-a-half years of chemotherapy

To this day the ‘worst two hours’ of the entire ordeal was when doctors confirmed Dillan has a rare form of blood cancer called B-cell leukemia and he would need three-and-a-half years of chemotherapy

Now the family can only pray for a miracle. So far more than £500,000 have been donated to Dillan's GoFundMe page

Now the family can only pray for a miracle. So far more than £500,000 have been donated to Dillan’s GoFundMe page

First they were seen by an orthopaedic surgeon who took an x-ray of Dillan and said there’s ‘absolutely nothing wrong with his legs’.

This left Amy feeling utterly confused and not knowing what to do as her one-year-old wasn’t walking.

‘He told he me thinks it’s a blood issue and that it’s affecting his hips. I had absolutely no idea what that meant,’ she said.

To this day the ‘worst two hours’ of the entire ordeal was when doctors confirmed Dillan has a rare form of blood cancer called B-cell leukemia and he would need three-and-a-half years of chemotherapy.

What is Leukemia and what are the symptoms? 

Leukemia is cancer of the body’s blood-forming tissues, including the bone marrow and the lymphatic system.

Leukemia symptoms vary, depending on the type of leukemia. Common leukemia signs and symptoms include:

  • Fever or chills
  • Persistent fatigue, weakness
  • Frequent or severe infections
  • Losing weight without trying
  • Swollen lymph nodes, enlarged liver or spleen
  • Easy bleeding or bruising
  • Recurrent nosebleeds
  • Tiny red spots in your skin (petechiae)
  • Excessive sweating, especially at night
  • Bone pain or tenderness

Source: Mayo Clinic  

The family were told to grab their stuff as there was an ambulance waiting outside to take them to Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

A staggering 90 per cent of Dillan’s body was ridden with cancer and it had spread to his spinal fluid, so treatment was required straight away.

A portacath was inserted into his chest and little Dillan became so traumatised by the experience with the cannulas that he was terrified anytime someone wearing a mask entered the room.

Due to the harshness of the chemotherapy, his face had dropped on one side from the chemotherapy, he lost his hair, eyebrows, eyelashes and he lost ‘so much weight’.

Steroids made Dillan emotionally detached that Amy thought her little boy hated her.

‘I’d lay in bed at night crying thinking, what does he think of me? He must think, why is my mummy letting this happen to me?’

‘As a family we made a pact to make this new life our new normal so Dillan has no idea that he’s any different.

‘I’m so grateful for any time I get with both kids together as a family, I just want to pinch myself, even if we’re all doing something as simple as lying in bed together.’

In February 2023 Dillan range the bell and was declared cancer free – a day the family had been waiting for.

But unfortunately a month later the cancer returned for the third time.

Dillan began car t-cell therapy in April and gave him and the family a new hope. Though by June the deadly disease was growing faster than he was recovering.

Amy and Oz were brought in and asked something no parent wants to hear – how they would prefer Dillan to pass.

They were told Dillan could no longer be cured at Great Ormond Street Hospital – or in the UK – and that he was now in palliative care.

Now the family can only pray for a miracle. So far more than £500,000 have been donated to Dillan’s GoFundMe page.

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This post first appeared on Daily mail