Fundraising continues for four-year-old Josh McCormack

Josh McCormack

Family and friends of Josh McCormack are continuing to fund raise for him so he can have a successful rehabilitation following his battle with a brain tumour.

Four-year-old Josh, from Whitworth, was diagnosed with the rare tumour in 2015 and ever since his diagnosis, family and friends have rallied around to show their love and support.

http://www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/99420/family-and-friends-raising-money-for-fouryearold-cancer-sufferer-josh-mccormack 

Nicola McCormack, Josh’s mum, said: “The support has been amazing. I could not have got through the last three months without our family, friends, both our employers - mine is Rochdale Council and my husband Kevin's is Rochdale Boroughwide Housing - and Joshua’s school, St John with St Michael, who have all been raising funds and raising awareness for Joshua. We are so grateful and overwhelmed for it all. We have an amazing bunch of friends and family and I am very so proud of them all. I cannot thank people enough, it's very humbling.”

Josh started treatment soon after his diagnosis and has already undergone a pioneering surgery which has removed 75% of the aggressive tumour. He has also recently finished six weeks of intense radiotherapy on his brain and spine, which doctors said would leave him with physical and mental disabilities.

Nicola added: “Josh has done remarkably well considering the location and aggression of the tumour, and of course what he has been through treatment wise. I am so proud of him, he is truly amazing, an absolute superstar.”

Josh is currently on a break from treatment which will commence again on the 4 March. This will be four months of intense chemotherapy in the hopes of killing the remaining tumour. It is believed that this will leave Josh infertile and has the potential to leave some degree of hearing loss and liver dysfunction.

“Although now he is only a shadow of the character he was, we still get glimmers of our Joshua. I am hoping he is still in there somewhere and just waiting for treatment to end and the cancer to be beat. Then he will be bouncing about again and making everyone laugh,” added Nicola.

Family and friends are currently trying to raise £2,000 to help Josh with his rehabilitation. Money raised will help Josh and his family with his recovery. At the minute, Josh is on the rainbow diet consisting of a spectrum of colourful organic fruit and vegetables and natural herbal remedies.

The family are also planning to start a programme called Cogmed. This a programme to retrain the brain. Josh has an online one-to-one coach for this and is assessed every six weeks to see which parts of his brain need age appropriate help. This costs £125 every six weeks and without constant fundraising, this is something the family could not have accessed.

Once treatment is finished, Josh will have reflexology and reiki as part of his ongoing care.

Money will also be used to allow the family to have some well-deserved family breaks and trips away.

Nicola said: “Joshua rang the end of radiotherapy treatment bell at The Christieson Monday (18 January) so during his treatment break we have planned a couple of well-deserved family breaks with the fundraising. One overnight stay in Blackpool (as Joshua loves the tower) and a four night stay at centre parks in the Lake District.

"It has been said that a lot of children who go through the intense chemotherapy that is planned to treat Joshua's tumour die from the treatment and not the cancer itself, so these precious family moments are cherished and appreciated. After treatment is complete we are planning to go to Disneyland Paris as a massive treat to our absolute brave hero.

“I am on indefinite leave from work, which could be long term as this is a lifelong illness, so the ongoing fundraising is to give Joshua the quality of life and the rehabilitation he deserves, which could mean extra tuition along with other treatments and therapies.

“If Joshua doesn’t make it, all proceeds will be donated between the Joshua Wilson Brain Tumour Charity, Christies and Ronald McDonald House.”

Money can be donated via:

https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/nicola-mccormack-1