Baby Ellis has been the victim of an aggressive stomach cancer and his family are appealing to the public to help make him well with life-saving treatment in the United States
Little Lily Ingrey-Smith hugs her baby brother tight as she pleads for donations to pay for treatment to save his life.
Ellis, two, was diagnosed with a rare 12cm neuroblastoma tumour in his stomach.
Sister Lily, five, showered him with love as he went through months of gruelling treatment – but now the tot needs urgent £150,000 therapy in the US to prevent a relapse. Parents Chloe, 39, and accountant dad Neil, 43, need to raise £90,000 towards the cost.
Chloe, a cosmetic tattooist, says: “Throughout his chemotherapy, Lily has been by his side. She draws him pictures, writes on them that she loves him and takes them to the hospital for him. He wouldn’t have got through this without her. He lights up the moment she arrives.”
After he was born in August 2021 Ellis was constantly unwell with chest and ear infections as well as reflux and colic – and his mum says doctors have told her he might have had the cancer from birth.
In October 2022, Ellis’s baby oxygen monitor went off in the night. He started having seizures, high temperatures, vomiting and his tummy felt hard. An MRI revealed the neuroblastoma – an aggressive childhood cancer starting in the adrenal glands that mostly affects kids under five.
Chloe says: “The tumour was so large that it had pushed all his other organs to the side.” Ellis had surgery and 80 days of chemotherapy, followed by immunotherapy, in which antibodies were injected into his blood to destroy cancer cells.
The family, from Epsom, Surrey, have been told there is a 60% chance of the cancer returning unless he has therapy using a sleeping sickness drug, difluoromethylornithine. It is not available on the NHS, but can be done privately in the US and is successful in preventing relapses in high-risk cases.
While Ellis is now in remission, Chloe says she has been told that if the cancer returns his survival rates are as low as 5-10%. So far the family have raised £60,000, but say it’s a race against time.
Chloe says: “We only have a 60-day window after he finishes treatment for this US drug treatment to be effective, so we are desperate to get it for him in time. Lily would be lost without him, as we all would. We need help fighting this cancer, for Ellis.”
Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
