Little Areg Khachatryan turned four on March 10, just one day after his sixth round of chemotherapy. The young boy, who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma last August, has more rounds of chemotherapy under his belt than years of life.
Neuroblastoma is a rare type of cancer, which affects mostly children under the age of five. Initially, oncologists in Yerevan told Areg’s parents that the chances of their son’s survival were slim to none, but the two didn’t give up hope easily, told a recent article in Hetq.am. They’re no stranger to adversity, especially Areg’s father, Armenak Khachatryan, who lost his eyesight at the age of seven, and went on to get a law degree and co-found the start-up HelloSIM.
In September, Areg was admitted to Cologne University Hospital’s Cancer Center, where he has been treated by a leading researcher on neuroblastoma, Dr. Frank Berthold. Since then, Areg has been undergoing a medical treatment plan that has included chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant.
Several months later, Areg is showing signs of improvement. Up until now, the family had been paying for the treatment through nearly 90,000 euros of donations and a grant from a German foundation had contributed 35,000 euros for some rounds of chemo and the removal of an adrenal gland tumor. But the Khachatryans have recently encountered another financial hurdle.
On March 6, Areg’s mother, Anna Babajanyan, posted an update to the YouCaring page she started to help raise funds several months ago: “Today we received another invoice from the Uniklinik, stating that in order to continue the treatment they need a prepayment of another 100 000 euros by the 15th of March, that sounds crazy, to be able to get that money within nine days only, but this is the requirement and the price for our son’s health and life.”
Areg’s parents have just three days to raise another 100,000 euros to ensure their son gets the treatments he needs to get well. “We say that human life is precious,” Areg’s mother told Hetq, “but when you hear the numbers quoted by physicians, half a million euros, you really feel just how expensive it can be.”
Donations can be made towards Areg’s medical costs by visiting his YouCaring page, or by bank transfer (information available upon request).
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