Dunsborough family forced to sell home as their young son Riley Stops undergoes leukaemia treatment

The community is being urged to rally around a family who have been forced to sell their home to pay for their young son’s battle with leukaemia.

Dunsborough’s Riley Stops, 9, has fought his way through three cancer relapses and arduous treatment cycles since he was a toddler.

He was first diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukaemia — an acute type of blood cancer — when he was just two years old.

And the cruel disease has meant he and his family have had to travel extensively for treatment.

Jason Aldenhoven is raising money for the family, who have had to sell their Dunsborough home after Riley’s second relapse to fund travel and accommodation costs.

Mr Aldenhoven said his cousin Lorene Atherton — Riley’s mother — had never been one to ask for help.

“Lorene is very grateful for any help and emotional when talking about the topic. She tries to keep a brave face,” Mr Aldenhoven said.

“It (the cancer) has come back three times. I’m just trying to raise money for them to make their life a bit better. “Financial burden is a big stress in itself. They’re not saying it is, they’ll try to hide it, but it can really be a burden.”

For the past seven years, Lorene and her husband Eli have taken extended periods of time off work to travel to Perth so Riley can get treatment.

Their next hurdle is to cover the cost of a trip to Sydney for special CAR T-cell therapy, which will make Riley strong enough for a bone marrow transplant later this year.

“It’s very costly to spend time in Sydney for six weeks,” Mr Aldenhoven said.

“I can’t fix the problem, but the best I can do is make some money for them.”

That’s why he has created a GoFundMe campaign to help out.