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Brain cancer teenager fundraising £300k treatment NHS diagnosis | Daily Star Jayden's brain cancer was detected by an optician

Jayden Powell, 17, is having immunotherapy in Germany after being told he cannot get it in the UK.

His original brain tumour was missed by NHS doctors who said he was wasting their time when he complained of terrible headaches.

A tumour was finally detected when he had a routine eye test at Tesco.

Jayden had an eight-hour operation to remove it and seemed to get better.

But another aggressive tumour has developed and only radiotherapy or chemo is available in the UK.

Jayden’s dad Steve said: “It is the worst type of tumour there is.”

His son was taken to Germany by ambulance this month after falling gravely ill with an infection at home in West Malling, Kent.

Steve said of Jayden’s latest scare: “He deteriorated really quickly. We didn’t think he was going to survive. DEVASTATING: The teen is fundraising to have costly treatment in Germany

“We had an ambulance drive us to Germany. He was fighting for his life.”

He added: “One minute our hospice nurse was handing me a book called “How To Deal With The Death Of A Child” to read to his two brothers Callum and Liam, the next minute an ambulance arrived to help him.”

Surgeons in Germany have operated on Jayden’s brain to try to stop the cancer spreading further.

Next, scientists in the US hope to use tissue from a previous tumour to make a vaccine to destroy the disease.

Steve said: “Our NHS is an amazing service but our treatments compared to the rest of the world are prehistoric.

The NHS can’t do anything else.

“We got hold of a Harley Street doctor, but they can’t do it until he is 18 on August 30.

That’s their rules.

“Jayden doesn’t want more chemotherapy as there is a 98% chance it won’t work and it made him so ill.

“We really need some rich person reading this to help us. We desperately need the money.”


“The whole family is pulling together. He is still smiling and he is keeping us going.

“We now need about £300,000. Beforehand £200,000 was plenty, but his condition deteriorated so badly they had to change the treatment.

“He can’t move his right arm or right leg, but he is still smiling.

“It is heartbreaking. If I had a magic wand I would put the tumour in my head. I’m 50 years old, I’ve had my life.

“Jayden is a young boy who should be out enjoying himself.

“The public have been brilliant, but we really need some rich person reading this to help us. We desperately need the money.”

Jayden is set to return home from Germany in the coming days.

Monthly trips back to the clinic for check-ups, as well as the cost of the ambulance, will push up the price of his treatment.

Last night, his fundraising total stood at more than £96,000.

Staff and bosses at Pinewood Studios, where Steve works and Jayden is an apprentice, have helped to raise money for his treatment.

And Steve thanked medical staff at the Royal Marsden and King’s College hospitals in the UK where he said his son has had “brilliant” care.