Black Country parents' desperate fight to save son with brain tumour

Eight-year-old Riley Gregerson was just a normal, happy boy until he began to feel tired around last Christmas and then his arm began shaking.

Parents Scott and Gemma, of Amblecote, Stourbridge, were naturally concerned but assumed it would be nothing serious.

Doctors initially thought it was stress or a trapped nerve but the problem wouldn't go away and within weeks Riley was struggling to hold his arm straight to eat. Then one day after school he started convulsing, when his parents rushed him to hospital fearing something was seriously wrong.

But they couldn't be prepared for what was coming. They were told their son had a brain tumour. The outlook was bleak.

Gemma said: "We couldn’t believe what we were being told or process what was happening. We were frantically researching what this meant for Riley and the statistics were devastating for this type of brain tumour. Riley had a life-limiting diagnosis extremely rare for his age."

Within days the Lutley Primary School pupil underwent emergency surgery but due to the risks involved, only 40 per cent of the tumour could be removed. He had to undergo intensive radiotherapy sessions and chemotherapy over the summer.

Gemma said: "At only eight years old, Riley has been so brave through all his treatment and still manages to make us smile every day. He never complains and asks us when he can go back to school to see his friends."

Scott and Gemma, both 28, are desperately short of options. There is no long-term cure for Riley's condition but treatment available in Germany could give him a fighting chance of living a longer life - but it costs £55,000.

The pair have been inundated with pledges of support, with a fundraising page having already reached £16,000.

Gemma said: "We are so desperate to save our little boy that we started to look for alternative treatments to help Riley.

"Sadly, there is no long-term cure for this type of tumour but we have found a clinic in Germany which makes peptide vaccines which will give Riley the best chance. This would require a vaccine injection every six weeks for two years but costs £55,000.

"We will do what ever it takes to give our son a chance but we need help to raise the money needed to take him for this treatment. Any donation you can make big or small could help give Riley more time."

Scott, who works for DHL, said: "It's to prolong his life, to give him as many years as possible. We need this urgent, more than anything. We have looked pretty much everywhere possible. There is nowhere that has shown any significant benefits but this.

"All the generosity of everyone is really appreciated us. It took us all back."

He added: "We're getting byRiley is doing quite well at the moment. He is having his chemotherapy but he's coping quite well. Because of that we're getting on alright."

People can donate by visiting gofundme.com/f/peptide-vaccine