A mum-of-two given 12 months to live after a cancer diagnosis is raising money for treatment unavailable on the NHS so she can extend her life and watch her children grow up, after feeling “let down” by the NHS. Darina Gray, 30, from Bedford, discovered a lump in her left breast after having her second child and underwent a double mastectomy to remove the tumour.
She was given the all-clear in December 2019, but two years later the cancer returned, spreading to her liver, spine, lymph nodes and bones. Now, Darina is seeking Enhertu treatment, which is administered intravenously as part of chemotherapy to halt the spread of tumours, which is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) but under review for use in the UK for Darina’s type of cancer.
Each round of the treatment will cost Darina £10,000, and strangers have already raised more than £40,000 for her to receive it after an online fundraiser was set up by her cousin. Darina, who lives with her husband Jonny, 32, a contract manager, and their two children, Marley, five, and Cobi, four, said: “I do feel let down by the NHS. I couldn’t get an appointment with my breast care team and had to go private to be diagnosed and now I’m fundraising to get treatment.
