A brave mother-of-three battling a rare form of liver cancer may not live to see Christmas unless her family can raise £100,000 for lifesaving treatment.
The family of Amanda Cox, 36, have launched a desperate bid to raise enough cash for immunotherapy in America after the NHS said it won’t fund the treatment.
The solicitor, who lives in Birmingham, was diagnosed with fibrolamellar carcinoma in 2014 but given the all-clear after two operations.
Shortly after the birth of her third child in December 2017, she was told her cancer had returned and spread to her lymph nodes, reports BirminghamLive.
She then went through months of intense chemotherapy and a drugs trial – but doctors said the stubborn cancer was still spreading.
Her body may struggle to cope with more rounds of chemo and while American doctors have offered her a lifeline, it comes with a huge price tag.
Her family are now trying to raise £100,000 on GoFundMe to pay for treatment in the USA and generous well-wishers have already donated over £27,000.
Her husband Matt, an RAF officer who served in Afghanistan, said: “We just don’t want to say there is nothing else for her.
“I want to be able to look our boys in the eyes one day and say we did all we could.”
Amanda has three son’s – Edward, nine, James, seven, and George, three.
“If we don’t get the immunotherapy, we’ll be lucky to see past Christmas,” Matt added.
“But she is such a fighter. Three years ago, the consultant said, ‘you need to put your affairs in order’. That was three years ago.
“She is such a young mum and she is such a fighter. She is so determined to live, she wants to live and make the most of her life.”
He added: “She got on with her work, she got on with her life despite the pain and discomfort.
“She has so much life left in her. She just wants to get on a treatment. She says she feels in limbo.
“We are a family who are optimistic and want to fight – we are not giving up at this stage. There is only so much I can do, but anything I can do, I’ll do.
“The GoFundMe page is a message of hope, a message of positivity. We want people to know we are fighting.
“We are incredibly grateful for the support we have been given.
“Social media has proved a powerful tool. We are not asking for a fortune – if everyone put in the price of a cup of coffee, it’s a massive help.”
He praised the NHS for working so hard to treat Amanda, but said doctors can now only offer more chemo that is “incredibly toxic and rules out other options”.
He added: “It’s a lonely thing, cancer. We are a team facing this together, we are going to fight it.”