While Simon Cowell has a reputation for being brutally honest during talent shows, he also has a caring side.
After hearing about a young boy who needed money to travel to the US for vital cancer treatment, the music mogul announced he would be donating an amazing £50,000 to the cause.
With the family needing to raise a total of £500,000 to send four-year-old Zac Oliver, from Broseley, to America, Cowell has also urged X Factor fans to donate.
Suffering from an extremely rare form of leukaemia known as Near Haploid, chemotherapy hasn’t had an effect on Zac’s cancer after four months of treatment leaving the family looking for alternatives.
Reading about clinical trials in America which have saved lives, although they are still classed as being experimental, Zac’s family are hoping to send him to Philadelphia for CAR-T therapy.
On a crowdfunding page which has been set up for Zac, his family wrote:
There is a price on our little boy’s life and we can’t afford it. This huge amount is only achievable with everyone’s help. Together we can give him the chance of a first day of school, riding a bike without stabilisers, falling in love, getting married, travelling, just growing up.
We are striving to get Zac the best possible treatment to give him the best chance of survival and a fighting chance for life, Zachariah is only four so he has a whole life to yet live.
Philadelphia Children’s hospital have Quoted $625,000 to carry out the treatment, the original Quote was $1,250,000 but this was reduced with the subsidy of some treatments. We would also have to relocate for a sustained period of time of which we are not sure yet.
Please help us get him to America and give him the best fighting chance.
With the family adding that ‘as of October 12’ they have so far raised £395,000, hopefully it won’t be long until they can hit their target.
Cowell’s £50,000 will certainly help and he even filmed a short video for the family to share which calls on people to donate.
He said:
This boy is four years old and needs money to get to America to get the help he needs.
So, I want you to go onto Zac Oliver’s JustGiving page and whatever you can donate will make a difference.
And because I don’t like those who tell people to do something and don’t do it themselves, I’m going to donate £50,000 so we’re going to get there.
You can watch the video here:
Hopefully Zac will get to America and the treatment improves his quality of life. We certainly wish Zac and his family all the best in the future.
If you want to donate to Zac’s cause, you can do so on his JustGiving page.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Macmillan’s Cancer Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 (Monday – Friday, 9am – 8pm).
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