Shropshire Star comment: Zac's been backed - but it's not over yet
There are days when we bring you bad news. And there are days where we bring you magnificent news, news to warm the heart and make the world seem a better place.
Shropshire has done it. For Zac. Incredibly, wonderfully, amazingly, and in a remarkably short time.
And not just Shropshire either. The plight of this four-year-old boy from Broseley has touched people far and wide. They have wanted to help.
Every pledge and donation has taken Zac and his family closer to a target of £500,000 which a few weeks ago looked daunting.
What has happened must make the appeal for Zac Oliver one of the most successful major public appeals ever launched in the county, and one of the quickest to reach its declared target.
It is one thing to start such an appeal. It is another to generate the public interest which is so important for success.
Then there is the no small matter of keeping up the levels of fundraising enthusiasm and, when the finishing line starts to loom, overcoming those final hurdles.
It is not over yet. There is still a need for some fundraising, and those pledges need to be made good so the generous intentions are translated into hard cash.
For Zac, it is only a beginning, a pile of money to pay for treatment which gives him the best chance for life.
Ordinary people here in Shropshire and further afield have done what they can do. Now it will be down to the medical people over in America to do what they can do.
It is not too early to say thank yous to everybody who has played a part. Every little bit helps, as they say. Each donation, however big or small, has been an act of kindness and goodwill which became an avalanche.
Milestones
There have been milestones on the journey.
Simon Cowell’s pledge of £50,000 was one. And the reason we can celebrate now, as opposed to some distance down the timeline, is that somebody, somewhere, saw that the fund was within £100,000 of the target and came forward to fill the gap.
This has been an anonymous act of generosity of such magnitude that it is not surprising that Zac’s mum was wary at first that it might be a hoax. Then she saw the money had already gone into the account.
Most Salopians will have never heard of the condition which has put Zac’s life at risk. That is their good fortune, and it is the misfortune of Zac’s parents to be very familiar with Near Haploid, a rare form of leukaemia.
They can now plan with confidence as they start to arrange to take Zac to America. The money will pay for CAR-T therapy at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital.
There will come a time to step back from Zac’s story and mull over wider considerations.
Why, for instance, could the treatment not be made available for him here in this country?
On the Captain Webb Memorial in Dawley there are words which have become associated with him: Nothing Great Is Easy.
Zac’s appeal has been a great thing, and the fact that it has been made to look easy should fool nobody into thinking such things are easy.
Across Britain there are now, and will continue to be into the future, families in a similar position to Zac’s, seeking treatments which offer hope and yet are being denied.
They cannot all capture people’s hearts. They cannot all rely on communities reacting magnificently and making what seems impossible, possible.
They are all special cases because, like Zac, these children are all special.
For Zac going on a big aeroplane and flying to America is going to be an adventure.
Bon voyage and good luck Zac.
