Let's help Ryry

Ryan Fuller is 26 years old. He’s a qualified electrician, a classic car enthusiast, a son, a brother, and a dearly loved friend of many.

In July 2016, Ryan came home to New Zealand on holiday from Perth, Western Australia, where he had been working for some time. After a routine blood test to monitor his Crohns Disease, Ryan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL). The initial prognosis was positive. The plan was to hit the cancer hard with an intense Chemotherapy regime before undergoing a Stem Cell Transplant (a procedure that replaces Ryans own stem cells with the stem cells from a Donor, in an attempt to cure the disease).

With a few hiccups along the way, Ryan persevered with incredible strength and determination throughout a number of treatments. Along the way, Ryans diagnosis was altered to Philadelphia Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (Ph+ ALL). This meant that Ryan had chromosome changes that were affecting his disease, making it harder to cure, but still possible.

In February/March 2017, Ryan returned home from Auckland City Hospital having completed his stem cell transplant. This was a major success, and medical staff couldn’t believe how well Ryan had bounced back from such an invasive treatment. Throughout this process, Ryan remained the positive, loving, caring, kind individual that he has always been, and his determination to beat his illness blew us all away.

He started to return to his normal ways of life, unable to work, but finding hobbies that he could fill his spare time with. It was time to put his cancer journey behind him and start planning for the future.

Three weeks ago, following a routine blood test, Ryan and his family received the earth-shattering news that the Leukemia had returned. Sadly, the disease is now more aggressive than ever, and Ryan was diagnosed as terminal.

Whilst over-coming the shock of the news and Ryans poor prognosis, he was contacted by his Specialist at Waikato Hospital, who had discovered a drug called Potatnib. She, and other experienced specialists, believe that this drug has the potential to get Ryans disease back into remission and give him another chance at a cure through a second stem cell transplant.

Potatnib is only available to Ryan from Australia and is not funded by Pharmac; New Zealand’s own Pharmaceutical supplier.

Despite not being funded and accessible in New Zealand, this news gave us all a glimmer of hope, but it comes at a cost of $40,000 - $50,000, so this is where we need your help!

Please donate today to give Ryan a chance at a cure, and a chance to live out the life he deserves. Any little donation will help – with proceeds going towards the cost of the drug itself and the associated costs to source it from Australia, and also financial support for a family member involved who is taking time off work as support for Ryan .

Your time and donation is dearly appreciated.