My name is Francine, and I’m in the fight of my life.

I’ve been diagnosed with Stage 3C cervical cancer. It’s aggressive, it’s relentless, and it has already stolen so much from me. This summer alone, I’ve spent 18 days in hospital in June and now another 25 days after undergoing major surgeries — a nephrostomy, a radical hysterectomy, and a cystectomy.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been in a hospital bed learning to walk again. Learning how to live with a stoma bag. Learning how to care for it, clean it, and somehow find the strength to look at it without crying. I’ve had to relearn the most basic things — how to go to the toilet, how to move around on my own, how to eat again, how to live with a stoma, to care for it & just being able to look at it without crying my eyes out (haven’t managed that yet). Basically trying to hold on to my dignity through it all.

And as hard as this has been, I haven’t even started treatment yet.

The hospital where I’ll be receiving treatment is 31 miles from my home. They won’t provide transport, and the cost and effort of getting there feels impossible on top of everything I’m already facing. That’s why I’m reaching out for help.

What Your Support Will Do

Your kindness will lift a huge weight from my shoulders by helping me with:

• Transport: covering fuel, parking, or taxis for the 62-mile round trips to and from hospital appointments and treatments.

• Medical supplies & stoma care: items I need that aren’t fully covered by the NHS, and things to make everyday life more manageable.

• Recovery at home: equipment and essentials to help me move safely and cope with daily life after my surgeries.

• Peace of mind: easing the financial stress so I can focus on healing, not worrying about how I’ll get to treatment.

My Goal

I’m hoping to raise £4,000 to cover these urgent costs during my treatment and recovery.

Every single donation, no matter how small, will make a difference. And if you can’t donate, sharing my story with others means the world to me.

From the bottom of my heart — thank you for reading, for caring, and for standing beside me in this fight.

— Francine