{"id":481663,"date":"2026-06-17T09:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/481663\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T09:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:13:09","slug":"family-faces-overseas-treatment-costs-after-queenstown-boys-neuroblastoma-returns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/481663\/","title":{"rendered":"Family faces overseas treatment costs after Queenstown boy\u2019s neuroblastoma returns"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of this week, the page has raised more than $87,000 from over 1000 donors in about seven days, as support continues to grow.<\/p>\n

Hough told the Herald that Dylan\u2019s family had already endured an exhausting first battle with the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really the cruellest thing possible because obviously the family had gone through it before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"InIn May, Dylan\u2019s family received the news that his cancer had returned during follow-up care. <\/p>\n

Dylan had appeared to be recovering well after his initial treatment, with scans showing no signs of disease and plans for a celebratory end-of-treatment milestone.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was unbelievably brave and strong and got through like 16 months treatment and came out the other side,\u201d Hough said.<\/p>\n

The relapse was discovered during what was expected to be a routine follow-up phase.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey came back and said it\u2019s there,\u201d Hough said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe showed no signs. It was absolutely devastating for a family, so really shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AfterAfter 16 months of chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and immunotherapy, Dylan was declared well enough to return to normal childhood life.<\/p>\n

Dylan has since restarted chemotherapy<\/a> in Christchurch, with treatment potentially stretching across many more cycles depending on how he responds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could go up to round 16 in New Zealand.\u201d<\/p>\n

If treatment is successful enough to qualify, the family is hoping to access specialist options overseas, including immunotherapy and vaccine-based clinical trials in the US.<\/p>\n

The emotional toll on Dylan\u2019s parents, Chris Yallop and Vanessa Lenihan, has been significant as they balance treatment, travel, work and caring responsibilities for their children.<\/p>\n

Hough said the family is now focused entirely on Dylan\u2019s wellbeing as they navigate a second diagnosis in a short space of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are doing what every parent would do, [that] is just being there for Dylan, giving him the strength and support he needs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"DylanDylan was first diagnosed with stage four neuroblastoma in January 2024, days before his third birthday.<\/p>\n

Despite the seriousness of his condition, Hough said Dylan continues to show remarkable resilience.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s super strong and just getting on with it as best he can. The doctors are shocked by how high his pain thresholds are, and how he\u2019s able to just be so normal considering what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hough said the public response has been a crucial source of support during an overwhelming period for the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not huge donations, it\u2019s a lot of $20, $50 donations, but it\u2019s from everybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd seeing that number tick along, it just gives [the family] such a lift every day to know that it\u2019s all going in the right direction and that people are behind them.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the goal of the fundraiser is to ease pressure on the family so they can focus fully on Dylan\u2019s treatment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just want to take that burden off them where they just concentrate on being there for Dylan,\u201d Hough said.<\/p>\n

He said wider national support could make a decisive difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we could get a real big national push, it would be life-saving and life-changing for the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donations can be made to Dylan and his family at this link.<\/a><\/p>\n

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As of this week, the page has raised more than $87,000 from over 1000 donors in about seven…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,6030,1848,11783,2534,6184,42037,802,242084,6119,2109,2893,5504,2883,48949,36175,130,65977,111,43,139,69,6029,3236,20930,1881,12971,6443,131,1361,165,2766,5619,379],"class_list":["post-481663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-again","tag-boys","tag-brought","tag-cancer","tag-childhood","tag-confronting","tag-costs","tag-dylans","tag-faces","tag-family","tag-fear","tag-following","tag-hope","tag-initially","tag-intensive","tag-more","tag-neuroblastoma","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-once","tag-overseas","tag-queenstown","tag-recovery","tag-returned","tag-returns","tag-than","tag-that","tag-their","tag-treatment","tag-uncertainty","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481663","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=481663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}