An English teenager with lumps on his neck was later found to have a rare form of cancer and is now receiving treatment abroad.
The teen's mother, 50-year-old Sam Holson from Godmanchester, Cambridgeshire, revealed that the funding is thanks to public generosity and represents their "last hope" for her son, who she said "wouldn't be here" without the assistance. It has helped her son, 14-year-old Jamie, undergo specialist care.
Teenage Boy Diagnosed With Rare Cancer
The first time that the teenager noticed the lumps on the right side of his neck was during a family holiday in April 2023. They initially dismissed the finding, but as the lumps grew more painful, his mother stepped back from her marketing role to seek medical attention for her son.
Medical professionals diagnosed Jamie in June 2023 with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, which is a rare soft tissue cancer that affects roughly 31 people in England every year. The sudden diagnosis came as a shock to the family and led to Jamie undergoing two courses of chemotherapy, achieving remission twice, but relapsing each time, according to the Independent.
With the teenager's treatment options becoming "limited" on the National Health Service (NHS), his parents started to explore other options overseas. A GoFundMe page for Jamie was later launched, and it has since raised more than $400,000 in "amazing" and "generous" donations.
From June this year, Jamie and his mother have been staying at a medical clinic in Germany, where the young boy is receiving crucial treatment for his cancer. Sam said that her family has now spent most of the money raised through the GoFundMe page and will need another $400,000 for major immunotherapy vaccines.
The mother said, "This is our last hope, our last resort if you like. Without the support we have had, without the fundraising, Jamie wouldn't be here now." The mother expressed her gratitude to everyone who has helped and given them a chance at life, AOL reported.
Help From the Public
Sam added that they are also prepared to remortgage their house if they have to, just to get the funds to help Jamie. However, she also said they are grateful for any support that other people can give them during this trying time.
The teenager's situation is similar to when a 17-year-old Texas girl found a "little lump" in her neck in January 2025 and ignored it. However, the lump later got bigger and caused her to have trouble breathing while lying down.
The girl, Makaila Chenier, told her mother, Christina Chenier, that the lump on her neck got a lot bigger and makes her feel like she is being choked when she lies down. After being referred to an ear, nose, and throat specialist, the teenager was urged to quickly go to the emergency department.
That was where Makaila underwent an ultrasound, X-ray, and CT scan that revealed she had Hodgkin lymphoma, which is a type of cancer that affects a person's lymphatic system, as per MSN.
