Mannix appeal over halfway to €350,000 fundraising target

The campaign to raise funds for Kildalkey boy Mannix Kane, who suffers from a rare form of cancer, has received a huge response with close to €90,000 raised through various events to date. This, combined with an anonymous donation of €100,000 that was raised for a 14-year-old boy who passed away before he received his treatment, now brings the total fund to €190,000. Just two weeks before Christmas, four-year-old Mannix was diagnosed with clear cell sarcoma, a rare and agressive form of cancer. Doctors found he had two tumours - one on his kidney and another behind his eye. Little Mannix began an aggressive form of combination chemotherapy almost immediately as part of his treatment plan. Because the chance of relapse with this type of tumour is very high, a fundraising drive began to collect money to send Mannix to the US for clinical trials should his treatment here fail. If Mannix goes to the US for treatment, the treatment is expected to cost in the region of €350,000. Mannix's parents Bryan and Noleen have spent much of the last three months at Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin with Mannix, while also trying find time to spend with their younger son Noah, who is 15 months-old. Brave Mannix coped quite well for the first 12 weeks of his treatment, but the last five or six weeks have been very difficult for Mannix and his family. The last cycle of chemotherapy left the youngster very ill. Mannix vomited continuously for five weeks and lost a lot of weight. Mannix's mother, Noleen, said the last five or six weeks had been a "rollercoaster" and that Mannix was on a downhill turn but was now back on the uphill again. They thought that, once he had his surgery, the vomiting would ease but that it continued. They were very worried about the amount of weight he lost and that he could not keep anything down. Doctors initially tried feeding Mannix through a peg into his tummy and, four days after his surgery, he began another cycle of chemo but continued to vomit. "We were going up the walls. He was only bones at this stage," said his mum. Doctors then put Mannix on TPN (Total parenteral nutrition) which is where food in its purest form is fed directly into his veins. After two weeks, Mrs Kane said that Mannix has much improved and is slowly gaining weight and is able to eat a little food himself. "He has been like a different child in the last few days. He has been up and playing on the bed. I really understand quality of life now. He was so ill and every day he was getting weaker and weaker but the other day he was up jumping on the bed," she said. Last week, Mannix began radiation treatment in St Luke's Hospital in Dublin and is scheduled to undergo 15 sessions of radiation over three weeks. The last few months have been extremely difficult for the Kane family but both Bryan and Noleen are doing everything they can to keep strong for Mannix and Noah. "Some days were horrendous when he was very ill. It is like a rollercoaster - when he is well, we are well, and when Mannix is not feeling well, neither are we," she said. Mannix has been in hospital for several weeks but his parents are hoping he will be well enough to come home in the next two weeks. His treatment plan is expected to continue until September. Various fundraising events have been organised for the coming weeks and months, including the gala Buttercup Ball in Trim's Knightsbrook Hotel on 25th June. Organisers are hoping to raise €15,000 toward the appeal and tickets (€100) for the black tie event are available by contacting (087) 751 7193 or emailing shirley@mannixkaneappeal.org The Mannix Kane Appeal is also seeking volunteers to run in the women's mini-marathon in June. For a full list of upcoming events see the website www.mannixkaneappeal.org