A former royal marine and Iraq war hero is selling his medals to help a little girl with $256K cancer treatment.
Lottie Woods-John was just 2-years-old, when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma on June 30, 2016.
When 35-year-old veteran Matthew Goodman read Lottie’s story, he wanted to help the little girl he had never met before. Goodman listed his three service medals on eBay to raise fund for her treatment.
“As a father myself, I couldn’t imagine seeing my baby daughter, Freya, suffering like that and I knew I had to help in some way,” Goodman said.
“My medals were just sitting in the drawer doing nothing, and I thought they could be used for something worthwhile.”
“They were awarded for the sacrifices I made, but I’m happy to forgo that honor if it means helping a little girl in desperate need.”
Lottie immediately underwent chemotherapy after being diagnosed with the rare cancer. In october 2016, she had a 13-hour surgery to remove 95 percent of the tumor. Now the little girl is undergoing immunotherapy to destroy the remaining cancerous cells in her body. But Lottie urgently needs an innovative vaccine treatment which is only available in the US.
“Lottie has been given 20 per cent chance of surviving the next five years and there’s an 85 per cent chance of the cancer returning,” Lottie’s mother Charlotte Woods said.
“The vaccine treatment prevents the cancer from returning, so Lottie needs the cutting-edge treatment straight away, meaning we need the £200,000 imminently.”
Charlotte, mother of three was speechless when Goodman contacted her to tell he wanted to sell his medals to help towards treatment costs. Matthew Goodman, who served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Northern Ireland said –
“If people stand up and support families like Lottie’s then it makes all the difference.
“Once they’re sold, in the place of my medals I’ll be wearing a childhood cancer awareness ribbon. For me, nothing is worth a child’s life.”