Relatives of a Launceston father being treated for cancer in Melbourne have started an online fundraiser raising more than $179,000 in just a few days.
Scott Atkins and his wife Hayley have spent the past seven weeks in Melbourne with their two young daughters, one just 10 weeks old.
The GoFundMe page, set up by Hayley’s brother Jack Close says Scott was airlifted from Launceston to The Alfred Hospital on September 14 with unexplained abdominal and back pain.
He was admitted to intensive care the next day and put on a ventilator. He was later diagnosed with stage 3 B-cell lymphoma.
After starting chemotherapy, Scott came off the ventilator six days later. He then had to relearn how to swallow, eat, stand and walk.
The family was due to fly home on October 27. Close said they learned the day before that the lymphoma had progressed to stage 4, with six lesions found on Scott’s brain.
Within four days, Scott could no longer move or speak and developed aspiration pneumonia. The family was told to consider palliative care.
Hayley and Scott instead chose to try a different type of chemotherapy and Jack said Scott showed “significant signs of improvement” within two days.
“While there is still an incredibly long and uncertain road ahead, these improvements have given everyone renewed hope,” Close said.
If Scott keeps responding, he faces another long period of treatment and rehabilitation in Melbourne.
Hayley moved there with the couple’s two daughters, who are almost four and 10 weeks old. The youngest was three weeks old when Scott became ill.
The couple first decided against a fundraiser. Scott had one 10 years ago when he had a double lung transplant because of cystic fibrosis and Close said they “never wanted to feel they were asking people for help again”.
That changed after Hayley asked in a Facebook group that she believed was a private group, about cheaper accommodation in Melbourne and received many offers of help.
“It was a reminder of just how many people care about this family,” Close said.
In that post, Hayley said the Leukaemia Foundation had covered 28 days of accommodation and the Tasmanian health system gave her a $90-a-night allowance.
She said the apartment she was staying in through the Heart and Lung Transplant accommodation service was becoming “financially unviable” at a discounted rate of $300 a night.
A standard $90-a-night hotel room was not practical with a baby and a toddler, Hayley said and the family needed to stay close to The Alfred in case Scott’s condition deteriorated.
She later updated the post to say she was “lost for words with everyone’s kindness”.
Donations will go towards accommodation, living costs in Melbourne and future expenses.
“If you’re in a position to donate, any amount, no matter how small, would make a genuine difference,” Close said.
To donate, visit the GoFundMe here.
