A million pound appeal has been started to help a 20-month-old girl with leukemia receive the care she needs.
At the age of eight months, Coventry resident Haille received a diagnosis at Birmingham Children's Hospital.
Her family claims they were informed that paying for treatment in the United States might be their best option after her most recent stem cell transplant failed.
Hannah Dugdale, Haille's aunt, said, "It seems a very big mountain to climb.".
While on a family vacation in Spain in the summer of 2022, Haille received his initial diagnosis; he was then flown home for treatment.
She has undergone chemotherapy, blood transfusions, and two stem cell transplants to treat her rare form of leukemia, known as JMML.
According to Ms. Dugdale, they learned on Thursday that the most recent transplant had failed, and a consultant at the Birmingham hospital suggested CAR T-cell therapy as their only other option.
A type of immune system cell known as a T cell is removed from the patient's blood in order for CAR-T to function.
These cells are then multiplied and slowly infused back into the patient after being genetically altered in the lab to make them better able to target cancer cells.
Haille's aunt stated that they would prefer not to wait that long and were hoping to take her to America in its place. A trial is scheduled to begin at Great Ormond Street Hospital in the upcoming months.
A third transplant will be necessary, which the family claimed the NHS will not cover.
Hallie is "the sweetest little girl, she's so gentle and kind-natured," according to Ms. Dugdale, who also noted that she and her sister had long discussed having children.
She continued by saying that her niece "deserves to be given every chance at a long and happy life.".
As any mother would be, she said, her sister Kim was "devastated," but she was also overwhelmed by the outpouring of support, and the appeal had already surpassed £150,000.
Ms. Dugdale expressed her hope that they would be able to begin the treatment before raising the entire sum.
A response has been requested from NHS England and Birmingham Children's Hospital.
