THE parents of Oscar Knox have said their son didn’t die because he had cancer but "because they ran out of options to treat it" as they launched a charity to raise funds to battle the disease.
Leona and Stephen Knox have established the Oscar Knox Fund at Solving Kids’ Cancer in memory of their son who lost his battle with neuroblastoma.
Oscar was just five when he passed away in May 2014 following two years of extensive treatment in Belfast, London and Philadelphia.
The Knox family have set up the charity in a bid to support neuroblastoma research, with an event held in Belfast yesterday kick-starting the fund-raising campaign.
Celebrities and local personalities, including north Belfast boxer Carl Frampton, joined the family at a golf tournament at Fortwillian Golf Club.
The Oscar Knox Cup golf day also saw Belfast Giants head coach Adam Keefe, snooker player Mark Allen, comedian Shane Todd, boxer Jamie Conlan and teenage golf prodigy Tom McKibben take to the fairways.
A child dies from neuroblastoma every 10 days in the Britain and the Republic and affects mostly babies and children under five, with the average age at diagnosis just 19 months.
Despite intense and aggressive treatment, it has one of the lowest survival rates of all childhood cancers.
The Knox family said all money raised by the charity will help "find and fund promising new therapies for children who are fighting neuroblastoma right now, and in the future".
"As parents who lost their first-born child to neuroblastoma, we are passionate about funding research in order to improve treatments and survival rates for other children fighting the disease," said Mrs Knox.
"Approximately 110 children are diagnosed with neuroblastoma in the UK and Ireland each year.
"Almost half will die, and those who do survive will suffer the horrific consequences of highly toxic treatment.
"Oscar didn’t die because he had cancer, he died because we ran out of options to treat it.
"By investing in research, we can help more children survive and go on to live happy, healthy lives, and with the help of the public that is what we will do."
