WE’LL NEVER GIVE UP HOPE
Sister is determined to raise cancer treatment cash for ‘fighter’Rachel
A desperate fundraiser has been launched to help an inspirational young mum with cancer to spend more time with her two young children.
We told last month how brave Rachel Kennedy (32) was devastated to learn she had stage three cervical cancer after experiencing bleeding that she thought was down to having the coil fitted.
She has been undergoing a series of treatments since last year but has since been given the heartbreaking news the disease has spread to both her lungs and has been given between 12 and 17 months to live.
Her sister Cheryl Macintyre has launched a fundraising page and the family is currently researching what options might be available to Rachel.
It has already raised over £11,000 to help the mum-of-two. Her family has set a target of £50,000 to fund any treatments that might be suitable.
Cheryl said told The Courier her sister is keeping a “positive mental attitude” and is determined to fight on for her two young sons.
She continued: “She’s definitely not giving up and is an absolute fighter. She’s really shown us how strong she actually is. I’m so proud to call her my sister.
“She has two young boys and they are her absolute world and she’ll do anything and we’ll go anywhere in the world to get the treatment for her and that’s why we’ve set up this gofundme page.
“The treatments are so expensive and we’re still researching. Chemotherapy leaves you with such a poor quality of life and we want to try and find other treatments that are out there that give you a better quality of life and prolong her life.
“We’re looking at wonder drugs and there’s also a treatment called immunotherapy which, rather than chemicals going in the body like chemo, it’s biological,
so they almost withdraw the good cells from the body, clone them and pump them back in and use your own immune system to fight off the cancerous cells.
“The immunotherapy is available in Newcastle at the Rutherford Centre and we have a call organised with them to see what options are available for Rachel.
“We do a phone consultation first and these consultations are between £200 and £400 just for half-an-hour to an hour and they might just tell you that they can’t do anything any better than what the NHS is doing.
“That’s the research part, that’s why we’ve said the fundraising page is research and the cost of treatment because we’re looking into lots of different places.
“We will travel around the world and we’re looking at Cancer for Hope in Mexico, we’ve followed a girl who’s there just now and travelled there from Ireland and she’s got such a similar story to Rachel.”
Cheryl said her family has been overwhelmed by the support they have already received in raising money to help Rachel.
Just last month they were able to hand over a cheque for over £7500 to Maggie’s Cancer Centre when they took part in a 50-mile sponsored run as the charity has offered invaluable support since Rachel’s diagnosis.
Cheryl said she hopes people will continue to donate.
She continued: “We don’t know at this stage exactly what the treatments are going to be but we know we need to get the fundraising in place, so when we get the OK for any kind of treatment we can say we’re in a position to be able to start.
“We’re so grateful to everyone who has donated already, in the community, our friends and family and even strangers we’ve never met before. It’s overwhelming how supportive they’ve been and there all lots of different fundraisers going on in the background too.”
To donate search for Help Cure Rachel Kennedy - Cervical Cancer on the gofundme site.