Help our Robin: Crowdfunding campaign for baby’s urgent cancer treatment

The parents of an 18-month-baby boy are appealing to the community to help fund his vital cancer treatment.

In January, not long after his first birthday, Robin Samuel was diagnosed with high-risk MYCN-amplified Neuroblastoma – an extremely rare and aggressive childhood cancer.

The cancer, which began in his right adrenal gland had also spread to his abdomen, pelvis, spine and bone marrow.

Since then, parents Nick Samuel, 39 and Rachel Samuel, 43, from Muswell Hill, have been on a “rollercoaster of weekly hospital admissions” for eight cycles of high-intensity chemotherapy, a stem cell harvest and a nine-hour operation.

Whilst Robin currently has no visible cancer left, his journey is far from over. Due to the aggressive nature of the cancer, he needs a course of cutting-edge immunotherapy to help boost his immune system, which will train it to recognise cancerous cells in the future.

Speaking to Jewish News, father Nick says that for the best chance of survival without additional health complications, their son needs five rounds of the treatment – only available via a specialist doctor in Barcelona.

He says that while the next step in the UK would be to give Robin very high-dose chemotherapy with stem cell transplants, it would mean an eight-week stay (minimum) in hospital where the risks include seizures, fatal infection and fatal liver complications.

Long-term, as a result of this treatment, Robin would be infertile, get a secondary cancer like leukemia, be deaf or have problems with his hearing and have permanent heart, lung and thyroid issues.

In the US, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre and in a sister hospital in Barcelona, this damaging high-dose treatment is not systematically given to babies like Robin who have no visible cancer cells.

Instead he would begin with their pioneering immunotherapy treatment, often including a specialised vaccine, which would help his body to recognise any microscopic cancer cells and support his immune system to prevent relapse in later life.

In order to start the life-saving treatment, Robin’s parents have to provide the cost of least three of those rounds, each costing between £60k and £70k.

To date, a crowd-funding campaign has been supported by 975 donors, raising more than £60k – that’s enough for the first round of treatment.

Nick and Rachel tell Jewish News: “No one ever expects to find themselves in this situation, and, upon Robin’s diagnosis, that initial sudden ten days in Great Ormond Street Hospital was a bigger shock than either of us could have ever envisaged.

“The support of all those around us – both then, and now in raising funds for his treatment – has been beyond incredible, and we are so thankful for all that people are willing to do for us, and our baby boy.”

To support the family, click here.