{"id":434120,"date":"2026-05-18T23:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/434120\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T23:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:33:12","slug":"givealittle-launched-as-whangarei-father-seeks-car-t-cell-treatment-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/434120\/","title":{"rendered":"Givealittle launched as Whang\u0101rei father seeks Car T-cell treatment in China"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIt\u2019s been incredibly overwhelming for all of us, we\u2019ve been dealing with hospitals and specialists and rallying around to do everything we possibly can to give him the best chance.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 2014 Wayne beat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, the most common and aggressive type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, with chemotherapy, radiation and major spinal surgery. <\/p>\n

It returned in 2021, and he beat it again with more treatment, including a stem cell transplant. <\/p>\n

In April this year, he went to hospital with worsening abdominal pain, and scans showed a large abdominal mass, with cancer in his intestines, liver, spleen, chest and lungs. <\/p>\n

Despite the \u201cvery aggressive\u201d cancer, the family is hopeful he\u2019ll beat it again. <\/p>\n

\u201cTwice he\u2019s fought back, and he will again,\u201d Corrinne said. <\/p>\n

She said his specialists believe Car T-cell [Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell] therapy is her father\u2019s best option, but it is not available in New Zealand. <\/p>\n

While Wayne is on \u201cbridging\u201d chemotherapy, the family is urgently raising funds for treatment in Shanghai, China. <\/p>\n

They have created a Givealittle page<\/a> to help cover treatment, hospital and travel costs. <\/p>\n

\u201cDad has already started emergency chemotherapy to keep him stable long enough to reach treatment overseas. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to get him the Car T-cell therapy as soon as possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

Corrinne said New Zealand treatment pathways are \u201cnot moving quickly enough\u201d for the progression of her dad\u2019s disease. <\/p>\n

While New Zealand is running domestic clinical trials for Car T-cell therapy \u2013 a revolutionary cancer treatment that genetically reprogrammes a patient\u2019s immune cells to hunt and destroy cancer cells \u2013 it is not available as a standard publicly-funded treatment. <\/p>\n

Overseas treatment costs are estimated to start at about $500,000, excluding flights, accommodation, ongoing medical costs, specialist consultations, medications and extended hospital stays. <\/p>\n

\u201cDad is on the waiting list for the trial, but we don\u2019t have a confirmed date,\u201d Corrine said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were advised … it could be July which is too long for us. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping to raise enough to get over there. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing our best to raise as much as possible in the smallest time frame possible.\u201d <\/p>\n

Corrinne, the eldest daughter who lives in Auckland<\/a>, said recent test results showed her dad is a strong candidate for treatment in Shanghai. <\/p>\n

The family is now urgently co-ordinating travel, hospital, and treatment plans for the coming weeks. <\/p>\n

More than $9000 has been raised in five days. <\/p>\n

Corrinne said the family is grateful for all donations that have come in so far. <\/p>\n

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cIt\u2019s been incredibly overwhelming for all of us, we\u2019ve been dealing with hospitals and specialists and rallying around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[9092,42772,806,14645,138,2534,3944,607,69252,797,2109,2209,36091,49475,78,1743,111,139,1067,69,3236,3512,2515,27950,119832,165,2766,1869,102],"class_list":["post-434120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-against","tag-aggressive","tag-as","tag-beloved","tag-business","tag-cancer","tag-car","tag-china","tag-clock","tag-diagnosed","tag-family","tag-father","tag-funds","tag-givealittle","tag-in","tag-launched","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-nz","tag-overseas","tag-racing","tag-raise","tag-seeks","tag-tcell","tag-their","tag-treatment","tag-whangrei","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}