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MIRACLE CURE

Cancer patient given just a year to live BEATS the disease thanks to pioneering stem cell treatment

Kye Eastwood, 24, travelled to the US for the new therapy, after NHS doctors warned they could do no more for him

He was given just one year to live after doctors in the UK ran out of treatment options.

Cancer patient Kye Eastwood, was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2012.

But when a tumour in his chest stopped responding to treatment, and specialists discovered the disease had spread, they prepared Kye and his family for the worst.

But, four years on, and the 24-year-old has received the news he dared never to dream of - he is cancer-free.

 Kye Eastwood, 24, was given just a year to live after NHS doctors warned a tumour in his chest had stopped responding to treatment, leaving them with no other options. But, after undergoing a new treatment in the US as part of a clinical trial, Kye has now been given the all-clear
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Kye Eastwood, 24, was given just a year to live after NHS doctors warned a tumour in his chest had stopped responding to treatment, leaving them with no other options. But, after undergoing a new treatment in the US as part of a clinical trial, Kye has now been given the all-clear
 Kye, travelled to the US to undergo a pioneering T-cell transplant, where stem cells from his sister Rebecca Featherstone, pictured with her brother, were transplanted into him to help boost his immune system
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Kye, travelled to the US to undergo a pioneering T-cell transplant, where stem cells from his sister Rebecca Featherstone, pictured with her brother, were transplanted into him to help boost his immune systemCredit: SWNS:South West News Service

After hearing the NHS had run out of options, Kye's family remained resolute, researching alternatives and new treatments that might help.

Their search led them to a hospital in Houston, Texas.

After discovering a pioneering new stem cell therapy that was on offer across the pond, Kye's desperate mum Amanda launched a desperate fundraising appeal.

Strangers, family and friends donated, raising more than £30,000 to send Kye for treatment in the US.

Experts at the American clinic diagnosed Kye with a rare form of lymphoma - mediastinal B-cell lymphoma, which affects the lymph nodes in the central part of a patient's chest, between their lungs.

While in America, Kye underwent a T-cell transplant, from stem cells donated by his sister, Rebecca.

He continued to travel back and forth to the clinic, where doctors revealed his tumour was continuing to shrink.

Last Tuesday, Kye and his mum Amanda, flew out to the US for another appointment.

It was then the 24-year-old's doctors emailed to reveal he had beaten the disease.

Mum Amanda said: "Kye and I were in a mall and I went to the restroom.

"When I came out, Kye kept saying 'let's go, let's go'.

"He didn't want to tell me in the middle of the mall in case I screamed or started to cry."

 Kye, pictured at home in Hull with mum Amanda (left), girlfriend Chanelle Urquhart and sister Rebecca, was told by his doctors in the US last week that he is free of the disease, after NHS doctors warned he had just a year to live
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Kye, pictured at home in Hull with mum Amanda (left), girlfriend Chanelle Urquhart and sister Rebecca, was told by his doctors in the US last week that he is free of the disease, after NHS doctors warned he had just a year to liveCredit: SWNS:South West News Service

WHAT IS T-CELL TRANSPLANT THERAPY AND HOW CAN IT BEAT CANCER?

Lymphoma is the most common form of blood cancer.
There are two main forms of lymphoma - Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgin lymphoma.

Lymphoma occurs when key white blood cells in the immune system - known as lymphocytes - grow and multiply uncontrollably.

Cancerous lymphocytes can travel all over the body, attacking the lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, blood and other organs, forming a tumour.

T-cell transplants involve transplanting stem cells from the donor, in Kye's case his sister Rebecca, to the patient.

The aim is to help boost and re-build the patient's own immune system, allowing the body to better fight the disease.

"When we got back into the car, he said he had something to tell me and not to get upset and I instantly thought the worst as he'd been a while having his scan done.

"I started to cry and just couldn't stop. Even now, I get tearful when I think about it as I just can't believe it.

"Kye was full of smiles and said he felt elated and we FaceTimed his dad, brothers and sisters and grandparents."

On Thursday when they went to the hospital for their appointment doctors confirmed he was being given the all-clear.

He will need to return to the US in November for a full check-up and more immunisation, and will need to continue to see doctors for the next five years to make sure the cancer hasn't come back.

Amanda said: "It still annoys me we have had to come all this way to another country to make my son well and keep him alive when our own country gave up on him.

"Thank goodness for the work and money the US has put into cancer treatments.

"I am the happiest mother in the world right now.

"But none of this would have been possible without everyone out there who supported Kye and the whole family with donations, organising events, being there for us when needed and just for best wishes as well.

"I cannot thank them all enough and will always be grateful."