Cambridgeshire schoolboy aims to raise £300,000 for best friend's cancer treatment

A schoolboy who is in remission after having cancer is aiming to raise £300,000 for his best friend's life-saving cancer treatment.

Danilo Talic, 13, from Cambridgeshire, was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in June 2023 and after undergoing chemotherapy, was told he was cancer free in September.

His best friend, Jamie Covington, 14, was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma two months before Danilo received his diagnosis.

Jamie was told he was cancer free last November but in May, he was told his soft-tissue tumours had returned.

Now, Danilo is spear-heading a campaign to raise the funds for Jamie to get ground-breaking treatment in Germany.

The schoolboys, who both attend Hinchingbrooke School in Huntingdon, spent a lot of time together on C2 ward at Addenbrooke's Hospital.

They say they were a great support to one another, spending the days "playing table tennis and on our Playstation".

Danilo Talic is fundraising for Jamie to be treated in Germany through trials of a new immunotherapy tablet which are not available on the NHS.

Danilo Talic said: "I know that the school is doing quite a few football matches and bake-sales.

"Me and a few of Jamie's mates are going to do a bike ride to try and raise money and awareness for anything."

Emma Talic, Danilo's mum said: "It was great that they both had that support, they knew that they were both going through it and when you saw them together, it made you feel a bit happier and they seemed a but happier.

"If Jamie came onto the ward you'd be like 'Great, Jamie's here, today'".

Jamie says it is great to have Danilo as a friend who can understand what he is going through and said: "It is quite helpful. For example, if I'm tired because I've just had chemo, maybe my other friends are like let's going and play football, but Dan's like...maybe just because he knows what it's like."

Jamie's mum Sam Covington says she know time isn't on their side and said: "I talk on the [fundraising] page about it being a ticking clock, a race against time. And those things I don't say lightly.

"That's how it does feel and that's how it is. We don't know what his next scan's going to say. So we need to move forward and we need to move further with urgency."

A gofundme page has been set up to raise the money for Jamie's treatment.

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