Leeds Cancer Survivor Honoured at Downing Street
The grandson of former Leeds businessman Arnold Ziff will visit 10 Downing Street today to help highlight the power of research in beating cancer, following his own battle with the disease. 17 year old Jacob Ziff will be guest of honour at a special reception hosted by Samantha Cameron, to launch Cancer Research UK’s inspiring new Kids & Teens campaign and encourage the public to get involved. Every year, around 1,600 children aged 14 and under are diagnosed with cancer in the UK - around 140 of them in Yorkshire and the Humber. A further 2,200 15-24 year olds are also diagnosed with cancer in the UK annually. The disease remains the biggest killer of youngsters in the UK. Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens will call on people in Yorkshire and across the UK to donate to help beat children’s cancers sooner and save more lives like Jacob’s. It’s an appeal his family wholeheartedly support. In May 2011, not long after his fourteenth birthday Jacob was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), so the family know first-hand just how crucial new discoveries and breakthroughs are to help more young people survive. Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) is a cancer of the white blood cells, which help the body to fight infection. Jacob, who is a student at The Grammar School at Leeds, was diagnosed after being ill for several weeks with glandular fever-like symptoms Despite several GP visits and seeing a consultant paediatrician no one could get to the bottom of what was wrong. However, one day he Jacob became very sick and was taken to A&E where he was diagnosed with ALL. Soon after Jacob began a course of chemotherapy at Leeds General Infirmary, the start of his treatment that would end up lasting over 3 and half years. In December 2014 Jacob had his portacath, which was used to administer treatment directly into his vein, removed marking the end of his treatment. Although he is in remission, his illness has left him with some ongoing health problems, but he has never lost focus of the future and completed his GCSEs and AS Levels with great success, and now hopes to go to university this year, having applied to read Economics. Now Jacob is one of 21 youngsters from across the UK – all affected by cancer – travelling to 10 Downing Street to have their bravery recognised and help raise awareness of the urgent need to boost funds for research. Jacob’s mother Diane said: “We’re honoured and overwhelmed that Samantha Cameron is helping to celebrate the courage of young people like Jacob. He has been a wonderful example to all of us including his three older siblings. Jacob has never once complained about his illness and is very aware of how research has helped to save his life. We’re proud to be a part of such an important event.” Currently, some survivors of children’s cancers endure long-term health issues such as learning difficulties, hearing and fertility problems, which can affect them throughout their adult lives. A key focus for Cancer Research UK Kids & Teens will be to fund research to develop kinder treatments, striving for fewer side-effects to avoid problems such as these for children in later life. Diane added: “The treatment is very harsh and can leave nasty side effects, so if it is possible though research to make this less invasive and kinder for children then that would be a huge bonus.” The charity is the UK’s leading funder of research into children’s cancers and last year spent more than £6 million helping to transform the outlook for young people with the disease. Thanks to research around three-quarters of 0-14 year olds with cancer are now cured compared to only a quarter in the late 1960’s. Lisa Millett, Cancer Research UK spokesperson for Yorkshire, said: “We’ve completed life-saving work that would not have been possible without the generosity of our supporters and the good news is - more children are surviving cancer than ever before. But there’s still so much more to do and so we’re grateful to have the support of Samantha Cameron in raising awareness. “Sadly, not all children survive cancer and we must continue to fight for every child and every family. That’s why we’ve launched this new long-term fundraising campaign – the more research we can do the sooner we can beat children’s cancers.”