Travel firm steps in to fly cancer battler Jamie Inglis to Germany (From York Press)

Travel firm steps in to fly cancer battler Jamie Inglis to Germany

5:46pm Sunday 28th October 2012 in News By Mark Stead, mark.stead@thepress.co.uk

BRAVE York schoolboy Jamie Inglis has flown back to Germany for pioneering treatment in his fight against cancer after a private travel firm stepped in to help at the last minute.

Seven-year-old Jamie Inglis’ family sent out a twitter appeal to find a private flight to take him to Stuttgart so he can continue to receive the specialist medical attention which could save his life, as he battles the rare and aggressive childhood cancer neuroblastoma.

The plea caught the eye of York-based private charter company FlyMeNow, who quickly laid on a car to collect Jamie and his parents, John and Vicky, from their Kelfield home on Friday evening and arranged a flight to Germany from Leeds Bradford International Airport through business jet provider E-Aviation.

Jamie’s vulnerable immune system means he is at extreme risk from infection on commercial flights, and after two months of recent treatment in Germany a twitter campaign led to entrepreneurs Sarah Jane and Steve Thomson, of the First News children’s newspaper, offering their plane to bring him home.

The Lord Deramore’s Primary School pupil is now undergoing the next stage of antibody treatment and will have to return to the hospital in Tubingen for about a week every month. Jamie’s family are now working to raise the expected £250,000 cost of the treatment, which is not NHS-funded but is believed to offer the best chance of survival, through the Jamie Inglis Appeal.

Andrew Whitney, FlyMeNow’s commercial director, said: “We organise a lot of what you might call ‘mercy missions’, but this has definitely been our most important mission of the year.

“When we heard about Jamie and the need for help to get him and his family to Germany, we wanted to do whatever we could, and we will do so again if there is a chance to help them. Jamie is absolutely awesome and such an inspiring boy - it was great to see him run out to the car which collected him and his parents, and he loved every minute of it.

“Jamie is from our backyard and there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel for him, which is why we are just happy and proud to be able to help.”

Messages of gratitude to FlyMeNow and E-Aviation have been posted on the @JamiesAppeal twitter page by Jamie’s family, with one saying “We love all our support from Yorkshire, the heart of our appeal” and another saying the youngster is “so cheery at the moment”.

Jamie is due to be assessed at a clinic on Monday and undergo a series of scans during this week.

To find out more about the appeal, visit keepjamiesmiling.com, @JamiesAppeal and justgiving.com/jamiesappeal.

More information about FlyMeNow can be found at the company's twitter page, @FlyMeNow.