Parents of six-year-old boy with stage four cancer reaches out for support to help them save his life

The parents of a boy battling stage 4 cancer have reached out for support to help them save the life of their six-year -old son.
To save Danny, his parents, Lar and Lisa Norris, have made an emotional plea for help to the public.
They need to raise in excess of €380,000 to access a vaccine trial at the Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital (MSK) in New York next year.
“There is no choice, we have to do it, any parent would if it means saving their child,” said his mother Lisa.
“All we want for Danny and ourselves is a normal everyday life. We want Danny to be able to go to school like all his friends, to go training for hurling and football and to be able to play with his two brothers. This vaccine is our only hope of keeping Danny alive,” said Lisa.
TURMOIL
The contented family life of the Norris family, who live in Glasha between Newcastle and Ballymacarbry about eight miles from Clonmel, was thrown into turmoil in July 2020.
Danny was diagnosed with stage 4 high risk neuroblastoma, a cancer of the sympathetic nervous system.
Since then Danny has had to endure twelve rounds of chemotherapy, a nephrectomy to remove his kidney, high dose chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant, seven nights in ICU due to complications arising from high dose chemo, 23 rounds of radiotherapy as well as multiple bone marrow aspirates, blood transfusions and other medical procedures all in the midst of a global pandemic.
On top of all of that Danny is now on the fourth of five cycles of thirty five days of immunotherapy treatment which is the last phase of his frontline treatment plan in Crumlin which will finish in early 2022.
When that treatment is finished it is expected that he will be able to travel to New York to participate in the vaccine trial.

LITTLE TROOPER
“Danny rarely complains despite the pain and discomfort. He really is a little trooper who takes each day and each new challenge in his stride. As parents we could not be prouder of Danny and his two big brothers Charlie and Shay,” said Lisa who is from Grange and works in Fethard at the St Bernard’s Group Homes.
COURAGE
“Danny shows unbelievable strength and courage every day. His hearty laugh and smiley face have kept us all going through some difficult days. He loves stories and colouring, his favourite animals are pandas and turtles. He will always have a soft toy of either under his arm for the hospital visits,” said Lisa.
“Danny has battled every step of the way and now we want to give him every chance of staying alive,” said Lar who works in Clonmel with Boston Scientific as a process development engineer.
Danny is on course to finish all frontline treatment in Ireland early next year and is meeting the criteria for the vaccine trial.
“This childhood cancer affects between seven and ten children in Ireland every year. At diagnosis high risk neuroblastoma carries a relapse rate of 60%. If the disease were to come back it is even more challenging to treat successfully. Sadly, survival rates for those children who do relapse are low, less than 10%. That is a stark statistic and we have decided to fundraise for further treatment to keep Danny in remission,” said Lisa.
VACCINE TRIAL
Lisa, a past pupil of the Loreto secondary school in Clonmel, explained that the immunotherapy treatment that Danny is now receiving in Ireland was at a trial basis ten years ago and was now widely used in Ireland.
“The vaccine in New York is now just a trial and in ten years time it will probably be standard procedure but we cannot afford to wait. We need it now,” said Lisa.
“This cutting-edge trial is very expensive, but we are committed to giving Danny that chance and reducing his risk of relapse. As this is a phase two clinical trial there is currently no available funding through our health insurance or the HSE,” said Lisa.
Lar said that the cutting- edge treatment in New York is not available in Ireland.
“MSK researchers have led the way in developing new ways to diagnose and treat cancer. The new trial is actively accruing and is five years in length. Danny would receive fourteen injections of the vaccine, seven in year one, four in year two, and one in years three, four and five,” said Lar.
At the moment Danny and the family are focussed on the care Danny has left to undertake in Ireland.
Lar said that they were all deeply appreciative of the care, compassion and understanding shown to Danny and them all at both Tippeary University Hospital and at Crumlin since July 2020.
GO FUND
“Danny has had the very best medical care available in this country. He has received excellent care from his oncologist Dr Jane Pears and all the staff in St John’s Ward in Crumlin as well as at the paediatric ward in Tipperary University Hospital. We will forever be grateful for their help as well as the care they have shown to Danny and ourselves,” said Lar.
Lar and Lisa also express their appreciation for the support shown to them by all their family, neighbours and friends since July 2020.
“The whole community have been incredibly understanding and helpful,” said Lisa.
The family are in the process of setting up a Trust to handle the funds raised.
A  Go Fund campaign is up and running  to support the Norris family.