Karen so close to dream of life
Nov 24 2007 by Robyn Skinner, The Journal
A MOTHER fighting terminal cancer is only £3,000 away from being able to afford a total course of treatment which could give her a few more precious years with her three-year-old daughter.
Karen Gault’s struggle to afford the life-extending drug Avastin, which she has so far been denied on the NHS, has struck chords with people around the world.
Now, one month after the story first appeared in The Journal, well-wishers from America, Ireland and Britain have raised almost £22,000 of the £25,000 needed by Karen, 43, of Jesmond Dene Road in Jesmond, Newcastle.
A $50 cheque from Seattle in the US arrived after a reader in the North-East sent The Journal stories to friends in America.
Another £1,000 was raised by Karen’s husband Paul’s friends in Belfast with pub nights. Paul, 48 a Gateshead Council engineer, said: “To say we are surprised is an understatement. It was in no way expected to have this kind of support.”
It was in September that former NHS administrator Karen found out that her bowel cancer was terminal.
Her only hope of seeing her daughter Grace grow up was to persuade doctors to prescribe Avastin – a life-extending drug the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) rules out as not value for money.
With time running out, the couple – who met as students at Northumbria University – decided that for their daughter’s sake, they needed to find the £25,000 themselves. The money will fund the nine treatments Karen hopes to complete by next February.
Though the Gaults have also applied to their NHS trust for Karen to be considered an exceptional case, they have not yet received a decision.
Even if that is approved, they will not receive any help for treatments already completed. Karen has already had two of the treatments and may have her third on Tuesday if her blood tests are fine.
These are coupled with chemotherapy, which can cause exhaustion and nausea.
Her former colleagues have raised more than £8,000 to help her, and Paul’s council colleagues have been equally supportive.
A 60-mile bike ride last month, book and DVD sales and coffee mornings as well as support from parishioners of the Gaults’ church, the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Jesmond, have all helped to reach the £22,000 mark.
Paul said: “Grace is happy as Larry. She is looking forward to Christmas and is now talking to her young friends at nursery about it.
“She’s really too young to understand what is going on with her mum.”
If you can help the Gaults raise the last £3,000 they need, Paul can be contacted on: 07976 612270 or email: gaultpaul@hotmail.com
