Support Gemma's Journey! Help to pay for cancer treatment.

My name is Paula, my daughter Gemma had a Uveal Melanoma diagnosed three years ago. We were told a year later this was successfully treated and would have no impact on her life expectancy. Other than scans to check on her eye and liver, life could carry on as normal.

Following this, she and her partner Ciaren decided to start their own little family. We welcomed Samuel’s arrival on the 3rd February 2025.

When he was two weeks old, Gemma had her routine liver scan as usual, expecting to be told it was all clear and to go back in six months. Unfortunately, they had found a shadow on the liver and follow up scans were ordered.

We were sent to Clatterbridge Cancer Centre to be given the news the melanoma had spread and that there is no cure but they would explore treatments to give us as much time as possible. The test results from this left us with the information that there are no viable treatments available on the NHS due to the complexities of Gemma’s long-term conditions.

Our only option to give them time together as a family, is to raise enough money to pay for a private treatment. This will help to extend the time they can spend together, making memories and leaving Samuel memories to look back on and know how much he has been and is loved, when he is old enough to do so.

It was £45,000 for the first cycle of treatment, most of which has come from donations to Gofundme! The remainder has come from Gemma and Ciaren's savings along with some help within the family.

Each cycle includes all pre-op assessments, the skill of many specialists, including chemosaturation doctors, anaesthetists and nurses. The stay in hospital, however long is needed, is covered in these costs, including any time needed in intensive care.

We can contact Gemma's specialist nurse at any time, whether in hospital or at home, she liaises between us and her doctor throughout, including organising calls from the doctor when necessary.

Any funds left over at the end of her treatment will be donated to help other people access life-saving or life extending treatments too.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and for any support you can give to our family.