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Charity walk raises thousands for Gravesend cancer mum

By: KentOnline reporter multimediadesk@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 14:37, 26 April 2010

Updated: 10:27, 26 March 2021

Bill Phelps and his children, Jack and Harry, with Debbie Ferrara on the Hoo Peninsula walk

A group of mums has raised more than £10,000 for a friend struggling to fund a £100-a-day cancer drug.

About 80 ramblers took part in an 18-mile trek around the Hoo Peninsula in support of Nikki Phelps, who is fighting to see her two-year-old twins, Jack and Harry, grow up.

The 37-year-old, of Wrangling Lane, Luddesdown, has multiple endocrine neoplasis (MEN1), a genetic condition that has ravaged her body with tumours. Her cancer has spread so violently that the only chance of prolonging her life is the drug Sunitinib, which is costing her about £3,000 per month.

Nikki Phelps

The £100 tablets, of which Mrs Phelps must take one a day, are not a cure, but they could slow the cancer spreading and make it more manageable for treatment on the NHS.

Members of the mother and baby group, who arranged the charity walk, decided to help their friend when NHS bosses refused to fund the drugs.

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Debbie Ferrara helped organise the walk on Sunday, which took fundraisers, including Mrs Phelps' husband Bill and their children, from The Railway Tavern, in Lower Rochester Road, Higham, to The Tudor Rose, in High Street, Upnor.

The 37-year-old, from Sole Street, said: "We are estimating we will have raised somewhere between £6,000 and £8,000 once the sponsorship comes in, so now we've raised more than £12,000 in total, which should buy her about four months of drugs."

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