Maidstone grandmother appeals for £80,000 immunotherapy in bid to cure vulva cancer
Published: 13:50, 17 June 2022
Updated: 16:15, 17 June 2022
The heartbroken family of a grandmother with a rare, inoperable cancer are desperately trying to raise £80,000 to fund treatment after learning she has just days to live.
Billie Fleming, 59, from West Farleigh near Maidstone, faces a race against time to secure the money for pioneering immunotherapy, after the disease spread from her vulva to her bowel and reproductive organs.
The accounts manager has been bed-bound at Maidstone Hospital since February after the cancer, first diagnosed in 2017, returned, despite undergoing chemo and radiotherapy.
Her daughters Alex Mulhall, 26, and Emilie Fleming, 19, have started a GoFundMe page to raise enough money to send her for treatment at The Rutherford Centre in a last-ditch bid to get more time with their mum.
It uses cutting-edge therapy that harnesses the natural powers of the immune system to fight cancer.
Data is still being collected on its effectiveness but in January the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence gave it the green light.
At the time of writing, the family have raised just over £3,000. Donate by clicking here.
Alex, a tattoo artist who has a three-year-old son, said: "Chemotherapy is not proven to even slow down the type of cancer she has, and radiotherapy cannot be repeated, this leaves mum with barely any options.
"I have a little boy who is three, who absolutely adores his 'nanna', and has never spent this long without seeing her in his life, due to hospital Covid rules.
"Since he was born has been one of the most important people in his life.
"Heartbreaking doesn’t even touch how it feels to think that she might not get to see him go to school, and make some more precious memories with him, and with us.
"Mum is our absolute rock, she is a strong and intelligent and amazing woman who is so loved by so many people.
"She has so much more that she would like to do, and there is so much more left that we want to give her.
"The last few days have been awful, we're all just doing the best we can.
"We're heartbroken, she's in so much pain constantly now.
"We hope that this could change the course of mum’s diagnosis and give her more time, and a chance at making more memories with her family."
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