Five-year-old ill child taken from hospital by parents.

[Anna]

It is the same treatment that someone very dear to me had in The Royal Marston London

PRAGUE POST | The Voice of Prague
 Eight days in, Ashya King’s therapy proceeds ‘according to plan’

[/b] [/u] Details Category: Prague News Published: 23 September 2014 Written by Czech News Agency Hits: 116
 Proton center’s spokeswoman says it is still too early to make a prognosis; 23 radiations remain
Prague, Sept. 23 (ČTK) — The proton therapy of five-year-old Ashya King, a Briton who suffers from brain tumor, is proceeding according to plan, but it is too early to make any prognosis, Prague Proton Centre spokeswoman Iva Taťounová told the Czech News Agency today.
Pavlína Danková, spokeswoman for the Prague–Motol Teaching Hospital from where the boy is transported to the Proton Centre on a daily basis, confirmed that no complications have occurred.
The boy underwent the first treatment session Sept. 15. Today he had his seventh session. In total, 30 radiation sessions have been planned for him. The proton therapy lasts six weeks.
The previous seven radiations and the next six ones focus on the whole brain to ensure that the tumor does not spread further to the body. The remaining 17 radiations will be targeted at the brain tumor.
Taťounová said the boy's motor activity has been improving, and he has been rehabilitating. This improvement occurred as more time has passed from an operation Ashya King had undergone when he was still in Britain, she said.
The proton treatment saves the healthy tissues around the tumor.
The parents took Ashya to Spain from a British hospital without doctors' knowledge in late August. They reportedly wanted to sell a recreation facility they had in Spain to get money for the treatment. British authorities issued an arrest warrant on them citing neglect of care. Before they withdrew it, the Kings spent several days in custody.
The family came to Prague Sept. 8. The parents need 1.8 million Kč to pay for the
treatment.http://www.praguepost.com/prague-news/41704-eight-days-in-ashya-king-s-therapy-proceeds-according-to-plan

[Mr Gray]

I see Ashya's parents now want £50,000 from the cancer charity even though the NHS has funded the treatment. makes me think that they were a difficult couple for the doctors  to deal with

[John]

I see Ashya's parents now want £50,000 from the cancer charity even though the NHS has funded the treatment. makes me think that they were a difficult couple for the doctors  to deal with

Please don't judge Dave until you know all the facts.

Latest: Ashya pictured with brother Naveed yesterday in Prague.

The English NHS is funding the cost of treatment as well as the family's expenses while they are at the Proton Treatment Clinic.  The children's charity has not paid any money to the family even though many people donated on the basis that they wanted their donation to go to the Kings.  Many people are angry at this.

Many others like myself sent a donation directly to the facebook campaign's PayPal account and this money together with other money donated directly to the campaign's Spansh bank account together with the media fee for their story has been used for expenses including £20,000 for a private jet which was needed to fly Ashya to the clinic.

The money now being asked for is to cover the cost of lawyers fees both in the UK and in Spain which the family were forced to run up through no fault of their own.  The charity has never paid out money for legal fees before so this is where their difficulty lies.

As far as Ashya's progress is concerned, Naveed reports that he commences his last week of treatment tomorrow.  He is recuperating nicely and is beginning to take food orally.

[John]

Regulator to ask charity how it will use funds raised for Ashya King's medical treatment

17 October 2014

The five-year-old was the subject of media attention when his parents removed him from a UK hospital and took him to Spain; Kids 'n' Cancer UK said it would pay for treatment he couldn't get here.



The Charity Commission will ask the charity Kids ‘n’ Cancer UK how it will spend money originally raised to pay for specialist cancer treatment for Ashya King, the British boy whose parents were arrested in Spain in August after removing him from a UK hospital.

The case of the five-year-old was the subject of national and international attention in the summer after his parents were arrested for taking him from a hospital in Southampton and thence to Spain to seek treatment not available on the NHS.

On their release, the family went to Prague in the Czech Republic, and last month the NHS said it would pay for the proton therapy treatment King had begun receiving.

The Derbyshire charity Kids ‘n’ Cancer, which has objects of relieving sickness and providing support to and advancing the education of children suffering from cancer, offered to pay £100,000 towards proton therapy treatment when the case first hit the news.

"We didn’t know Prague was going to happen; we’d have preferred for them to go Jacksonville or Oklahoma in the US because we have experience working in those places," Mike Hyman, chief executive of the charity, told Third Sector.

Hyman said he was then contacted by Sanjay Ganatra, who had started a JustGiving page to raise money for Kids‘n’Cancer to pay for King’s treatment. The page had a fundraising target of £100,000 and said that any excess would be spent elsewhere by Kids ‘n’ Cancer. It was shut down yesterday, having raised slightly more than £50,000.

Separately, the Kings’ older son Naveed used his YouTube channel to encourage the public to donate money directly to the family's private bank account. Hyman said he understood that the family had raised more than £200,000 – this included money paid into that account, £100,000 from an individual major donor, £25,000 from the crowdfunding platform Indiegogo and £30,000 paid to the family by other charities.

Hyman said the family had then emailed him asking for the charity to give them the money to be used for legal expenses. Hyman said: "We can’t do that; our terms and conditions are about helping people get treated and supporting them while they’re doing that." He said he would meet the charity’s trustees on Friday afternoon to discuss what to do with the £50,000.

"At the end of the day, the charity would have paid for Ashya’s treatment if nothing else had been raised," Hyman said. "Nobody knew the health services would have backtracked. We would have paid for this boy’s treatment and living costs."

Ganatra said he had taken down the JustGiving page because he had been the subject of online abuse, which caused him stress and strained his already ill health. "I’ve got nothing to hide and Kids ‘n’ Cancer has nothing to hide," he said.

A spokeswoman for the commission said: "We are aware of media reports concerning funds raised by the charity Kids ‘n’ Cancer UK for the treatment of Ashya King. We will be requesting information from the trustees about how much was raised by the Ashya King appeal and how the funds will be used, because it appears that the funds are no longer needed to fund Ashya’s medical treatment."

The spokeswoman said that the commission had guidance on its website for trustees to follow "when appeals don’t go to plan".

The commission has a case open on the charity, involving its fundraising practices and financial controls. "These concerns were raised with us by members of the public and are separate to the issues concerning the Ashya King appeal," the commission spokeswoman said. "We have been working to determine how serious these initial issues are and what our next regulatory steps will be."

Hyman said these complaints came from disgruntled former staff. "There are no financial irregularities; our accounts are audited," he said.

www.thirdsector.co.uk/regulator-ask-charity-will-use-funds-raised-ashya-kings-medical-treatment/governance/article/1317671#disqus_thread

[John]

Ashya King’s dad hits back at charity after money is held back



THE father of Ashya King has hit back at a charity, claiming it said it would pay for the family’s expenses as well as treatment for his son.


Brett King, who is in Prague caring for five-year-old Ashya while he undergoes proton beam therapy, said Kids n Cancer UK told him it would pay for travel and living expenses from donations.

But the charity has said the £50,000 raised for Ashya would go to other sick children because the NHS eventually agreed to pay for his treatment.

Mr King says that the money would have been put to good use.

Mr King, from Southsea, said: ‘We did ask the charity to pay for our legal expenses because it indicated it would cover our expenses as well as the treatment for Ashya.

‘But now he has received the treatment on the NHS, they aren’t paying for anything.

‘Although we received money from other charities and donations and have paid £17,000 in legal fees, we still have around £28,000 to pay to the Spanish solicitors.

‘When we asked Kids n Cancer to pay for the legal fees, it said we were greedy and declined. We asked what it could pay for and it didn’t reply.’

Kids n Cancer UK helps families with children in need of the proton beam therapy. It helps pay for living costs for families who have to go to America.

Its decision came to light after Ashya’s older brother Naveed took to social media.

Mr King added: ‘It pays for accommodation expenses for other families but it has given the money raised for us to other children.

‘Naveed felt the need to tell people that the money they donated for Ashya wouldn’t be going to him.’

But Kids n Cancer has said it helps families who have no money. Events manager Andrea Hooley said: ‘The Kings have a lot of money they have received from other charities and organisations. We help families who can’t pay for accommodation and have no money.’

Cancer Relief UK, which gave £30,000 to the King family through donations, said it wouldn’t be reclaiming any of it.

Steve Coupe, founder of Cancer Relief UK, said: ‘We have already given that money to Ashya King.

‘We have absolutely no intention of asking for it back, you can’t ask for money back and we wouldn’t anyway.’

www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/ashya-king-s-dad-hits-back-at-charity-after-money-is-held-back-1-6363207

[Eleanor]

But for the inglorious National Health Service there would have been no Legal Costs.

But you could say the same for The Madeleine Fund.

The money was donated for the child and the family.  Just give it to them.  And let's not have any prissy arsed morals.

[John]

Ashya King has today completed his proton therapy treatment in Prague but his parents say they are too scared to return to the UK in case their son is taken from them.  Brett King speaking earlier to Sky News said that they will return to their home in Spain where Ashya's treatment will continue.  He added that they will not return to the UK until the investigation into the event which overtook them some weeks ago is completed.

Meanwhile elsewhere, the King's are attracting criticism for attacking the Kids 'n' Cancer charity for not handing over funds which were donated to Ashya.  The charity which is now the subject of a Regulator investigation, has stated that they have not given any money to the King's because the NHS has paid for Ashya's proton treatment therapy in Prague.  The charity founder Mike Hyman issued a statement on their Facebook page claiming that Brett King demanded they hand over the £50,000 donated in Ashya's name so that it could be used to pay legal fees.  He pointed out that funds donated to the charity could only be used to pay for medical treatment and accommodation/travel expenses and could not be used to pay legal fees.

[charliesnike]

This case makes me cry. The feeling of injustice today for me is enormous. This poor poor family!
The policeman on Sky News -sorry it was BBC -  was stammering, while trying to find excuses.

[Anna]

A bit late, but just found it....................


Ashya King 'not receiving chemotherapy'
By David Fenton Health correspondent, BBC South Today
Ashya King, pictured with his mother Naghemeh King, did not receive chemotherapy in Prague




The hospital in Prague which treated five-year-old Ashya King for a brain tumour, has confirmed he received no chemotherapy - a key part of his original treatment plan.
His father said he did not need it as the tumour was now "in remission".
But a leading UK cancer expert has said, without chemotherapy, children's chances of survival could be reduced.
Ashya is being cared for at a private hospital in Spain and is receiving physiotherapy and speech therapy.
He is said to be doing well, and even saying a few words.
Ashya's story received global attention in August when he was taken from Southampton General Hospital without medical consent, sparking an international hunt.
His parents Brett and Naghemeh, of Southsea, Hampshire, took him to Spain where they were arrested and held in a prison in Madrid.
They had wanted him to undergo proton beam therapy, which had not been recommended by doctors treating him.
The couple were later released and the NHS agreed to fund his treatment in September.
Speaking after Ashya finished a course of proton beam therapy at a special clinic in Prague, his father, Brett King, said he did not need a separate course of chemotherapy.
He said: "We came to a conclusion [with] the doctors that, really, he doesn't need it... They've done MRIs that don't show any visible signs that there's a tumour - it's in what they call remission."
'It responds well'
The Motol Hospital, where Ashya had been staying, confirmed no chemotherapy had been given.
But a leading cancer expert said, without chemotherapy, the survival rate for children with medulloblastoma - the type of tumour Ashya had - could be significantly reduced from 80% to about 50%.
Prof Roger Taylor, vice president of clinical oncology for the Royal College of Radiologists, said chemotherapy in conjunction with radiotherapy was the "standard course of treatment - without exception" for children with that type of brain tumour.
He said: "For the last 15 years or more we have been using chemotherapy routinely for all children. It's been known for several decades that medulloblastoma responds well to chemotherapy."
NHS England is expected to pay up to £80,000 for Ashya's treatment in Prague. It has so far not commented on the latest development.
Dr Cortes Funes, who is caring for Ashya in Spain, told the BBC the boy was doing well and the medical team was waiting to decide what treatment to give him next.
He said one option may be a course of immunotherapy, which uses antibodies and stem cells to boost the body's defence against cancer.

What is proton beam therapy?
It uses charged particles instead of X-rays to deliver radiotherapy for cancer patients
The treatment allows high-energy protons to be targeted directly at a tumour, reducing the dose to surrounding tissues and organs
In general, it gives fewer side effects compared with high-energy X-ray treatments
It can be used to treat spinal cord tumours, sarcomas near the spine or brain, prostate cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer and some children's cancers

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-29944626

[John]

Ashya (right) having fun in the pool with his brothers a few days back at Marbella International Hospital.

[Anna]

That is really lovely to see. Thanks John.
 What a wonderful xmas present the family managed to receive after all

[Anna]

What's wrong with this country?


Ashya King’s father ‘treated like criminal’ on return to UK
Brett King, who took his five-year-old son abroad for brain tumour treatment, says he was harassed by police at Gatwick
Josh Halliday
The Guardian, Monday 1 December 2014 15.49 GMT
The father of five-year-old brain tumour patient Ashya King has claimed he was harassed by police and “treated like a criminal” when he tried to return to the UK.
A YouTube video published on Monday shows Brett King and his son Naveed being stopped by a police officer as they attempt to walk through UK border control at Gatwick airport in west Sussex last Saturday.

King said his and Naveed’s passports were taken away and police were called when they tried to re-enter the UK.
He is then shown in the video telling a police officer: “How would you feel coming back to your own country to be treated like a criminal? What have I done except help my son? Show me the computer and I’ll come with you. I’m walking now, you can arrest me if you like.”
It is the first time King has attempted to return to the UK since August when Ashya was taken from hospital in Southampton without consent.
The five-year-old, who required brain tumour treatment, was taken to Spain by his parents where they were arrested. They were later released and allowed to take Ashya to Prague for proton beam treatment, which he completed last month.
In the three-minute video, published on Naveed’s account, King is shown in the UK border control area of Gatwick airport.
Addressing the camera, he says: “I’m here at Gatwick airport, I handed my passport in, the man looked at his computer, asked me to come to this holding booth and took my passport away as well as my son Naveed’s passport away.
“Now behind me is the police making phone calls and that sort of thing when I was told that there would be no problem if I come back to England, but already my first attempt to come back to England or a time when I’d like to come back to England, there’s been problems. We’ll see what will happen in a few minutes.”
He then gets up and asks a police officer to see what is on a computer screen, presumably that of the UK border agency official, before being told to calm down.
King told the police officer: “I’m not going to follow you. You’ll have to arrest me. I don’t like being treated like a criminal in front of the public.”
“I’m not gonna arrest you,” says the police officer, before King is filmed walking through border control unapprehended. Two police officers appear to follow King up the escalators into the arrivals lounge, where they instruct the person with the camera – thought to be Naveed – to stop filming.
In a comment posted later underneath the video, Naveed said: “[The police officer] wanted to take Brett in for questioning. After we found out he wasn’t under arrest that’s when we got up and walked, and that’s when we also wanted to see WHY he was stopped and to see what information they have on Brett in their computer system.”
A Sussex police spokesman told the Guardian: “Two uniformed constables who were on routine patrol in the airside area were called by UK Border Force to advise on an issue relating to a passport held by an arriving passenger in Immigration Arrivals on Saturday 29 November.
“When the officers arrived they quickly confirmed to Borders staff that police had no interest in the matter. One of the officers spoke briefly to him and he walked through to landside.
“The officers made it clear to the man that they did not intend to arrest him. We have received no complaint about the actions of the police.”

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/dec/01/ashya-king-father-brett-treated-like-criminal-return-uk

[John]

Just came across this update Anna, posted by big bro Naveed on his video channel.

[Anna]

Just came across this update Anna, posted by big bro Naveed on his video channel.

It looks like he is improving, but it will take a long time. I think the family would say " Its worth the wait"
They are a very close and loving family....I wish them all the very best in getting more help for their son.

[Anna]

Ashya (right) having fun in the pool with his brothers a few days back at Marbella International Hospital.

I hope this family are having the wonderful Christmas,that they deserve, after the battle to obtain treatment for Ashya, the worry, financial problems and the stress that, they suffered earlier this year.
I am sure they will be so happy, to be a complete family again.