A loving husband is on a mission to raise £40,000 to help save his "beautiful soul" wife.
Mum-of-two Heather Ashton, 39, has multiple health conditions including Crohn's disease, fibromyalgia, and depression. And at age 37, she was diagnosed with stage four bowel cancer, which had metastasised to her liver with more than 20 tumours, her husband said.
The family's battle sadly grew worse when the "kindest" mum to Finlay, 10, and Elliott, 7, discovered her cancer is terminal. Her partner Mark Ashton said: "After a fortnight of various scans and meetings with surgeons and oncologists, they seemed to deliver a continual stream of bad news. It progressively worsened – the cancer is terminal, it’s inoperable, the outlook is not good."
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But Mark and the couple's sons continue to have a positive outlook and are not giving up in their mission to save Heather's life. Mark, who has been with Heather for 15 years, said: "Over the past year or so, we’ve really tuned in to and begun to appreciate just how fortunate we are. Heather is absolutely the kindest, compassionate and most beautiful soul I have ever known.
"As a family, we are desperate to have Heather's light in our lives and for her to be able to see as many upcoming milestones as possible; Finlay starting high school, Elliott reaching double digits, celebrating her 40th Birthday, to name but a few.
"To say that her health journey has been extraordinary would be a massive understatement. She is very personable and chats with everyone she sees, bringing a genuine brightness to the hospital wards.
Mark has been researching a variety of treatments to keep his "shining star" in his life. He added: "We found out about a drug called Bevacizumab (Avastin). This is a drug that has had significantly beneficial results for colorectal cancer patients.
"But, devastatingly, we were told that N.I.C.E. guidelines currently deemed this drug not feasible to be funded by the NHS in England, despite it being considered gold standard treatment in the United States of America, Australia and across Europe. Heather’s oncology team have agreed Heather would be a prime candidate to receive the treatment, and it could well help extend her life; but they cannot prescribe Bevacizumab freely on the NHS."
The demand of Heather's treatment schedule and the cost of getting her the Bevacizumab drugs, plus the family's rising bills, has had a great strain. Mark has set up a Go Fund Me Page to "go towards funding the prolonging of Heather's life".
He is hoping to raise £40,000, and after setting up the donation page only a week ago over £9,000 has already been raised. Speaking about the support, Mark added: "What an absolutely immense response we've had. We are pretty much speechless and taken aback by everyone's generosity, particularly in the current financial climate with bills and prices all rising etc.
"It's really heart-warming to witness such kind hearted souls contributing to our cause, and while it feels somewhat odd to be doing this, we are so, so grateful for each and everyone who has visited the page, shared the link and donated to the fund.
"You are all really wonderful people and have given us further reason for tears, although this time they are tears of happiness. Thank you so, so much." Heather has also been documenting her journey on her Instagram page @HevSarah, from her medication intake, hospital visits, books she is reading, and family time.
To donate to help fund Heather's cancer treatment click here.
