A schoolboy battling cancer has been able to go to school for the first time in seven months – after he was turned into a ROBOT.
Oscar Saxelby-Lee , 5, was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in December 2018.
After recently having a bone marrow transplant, Oscar has been unable to attend school for the last seven months.
But with the help of the Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust, Oscar has been able to attend school virtually using one of the trust’s state of the art “Ozzybot’s” – where his face is projected onto a robot from his hospital bed, and he can interact with his teachers and schoolpals.
Now, he is enjoying lessons and his friends love seeing the ‘Ozzybot’ in lessons each morning.
Oscar’s appeal for a bone marrow transplant hit headlines when an appeal for suitable donors lead to 5,000 people queuing to become possible donors.
Oscar’s mother, Olivia Saxelby ,24, said: “Something magical has happened all thanks to Grace Kelly Childhood Cancer Trust. Pitmaston Primary School have received their very own ‘Ozzybot.’ This means Oscar can engage in classroom activities, school life in and continue bonding with his peers from his hospital bed.
“Oscar was over the moon, his face lit up completely. It was the first time he’d had a class registration since December so he was really overwhelmed. It was an incredible fleeing for us as parents for him to get some normality back in his life.
“He can log on whenever he wants from his hospital bed so it’s great that he can finally get some routine.”
The “Ozzybot”, otherwise known as as an AV1 allows people with long-term illnesses to virtually attend school using an iPhone or tablet meaning Oscar can attend school whenever he wants.
AV1 even has in-built eyes that let Oscar communicate how he’s feeling in class using happy, confused or sad eyes on the app for the device.
Jennifer Kelly from the Grace Kelly Trust said: “It was an honour to go into Oscar’s school and work with them to make this possible. To see Oscar’s beaming face on seeing his classmates is absolutely amazing we are absolutely delighted that Grace’s legacy is making this possible.
“Since we released this announcement on social media, we have been approached by two other families in Worcester. Their children also have cancer and are hugely isolated.
“They are hoping that we can help their children too. We know that there are a number of other children in a similar situation as there are up to 25 children diagnosed every year in Worcestershire alone. It costs £900 to sponsor an AV1 machine for 3 months for a child, we are hoping that there may be individuals or businesses that would like to help the charity help as many of these children as possible.
Pitmaston Primary held a weekend of donor tests on March 2 and 3, and around 5,000 people attended to be swabbed and registered to find a tissue match for Oscar.
Head teacher Sue Bladen said: “This truly is technology working at its best – we are so thrilled to be able to have Oscar’s ‘Ozzybot’ in the classroom so that Oscar can be part of his class, interact with his friends and be a part of the school day.
“We are very grateful to The Grace Kelly Foundation for funding AV1 to ensure that Oscar, although in isolation in hospital, feels included and part of his Reception class here at Pitmaston Primary School.
“When Oscar took part in his first school registration this week since December saying ‘Good morning Mrs Keating’ the joy, emotions and cheers from his friends, as you can imagine, were overwhelming.”
Donations to fund AV1 robots can be made here: https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/charity-web/charity/displayCharityCampaignPage.action?charityCampaignUrl=av1
