Paula Clayton - Funding For Life Saving Treatment

UPDATE: Very sorry to say that Paula sadly passed away on Sunday 17/10/21, we will be continuing the fundraising to fight for anyone else with Paula's condition. So please keep sharing and donating. If you knew Paula you will know that this is what she wanted, to help people ad have something positive come from this horrific story. Thank you for your support.




This page is aiming to raise £75,000 to pay for a drug that could give Paula a chance to keep fighting. After everything she's been through so far, from life threatening surgeries to sepsis, she has fought everything that has been thrown her way and come out the other side stronger and fighting harder with the biggest love for life. So lets not let this monetary issue stop her from continuing her fight!

 

Paula is and always has been an inspiration to so many. From early on in her professional career as a physiotherapist/soft tissue therapist working at many Olympic Games and sports including Wrestling, Boxing, Hockey, Rugby, Women's football, Equestrian, Squash, Badminton, Swimming. She's a mentor for so many, an author, conference speaker and just an outright incredible human being.

 

Paula's journey since diagnosis has been anything but smooth. After finding a lump in her neck July 2020 after seeing herself during an online video consultation she soon got this checked out but was told it was benign, towards Christmas 2020 the lump started getting bigger, so she got this checked out.

Ultrasounds, biopsies showed benign tissue...

Paula knew something was not right, with a few strange symptoms and a growth that was now affecting her much more, Paula took it upon herself to ensure she got this checked out more thoroughly. It was only then that she was diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC), one of the 4 thyroid cancers but the one that effects less than 1% and unfortunately the most aggressive.

She had surgery - radical thyroidectomy' - which involved removal of her thyroid, strap muscles, lymph nodes, left internal jugular vein. They unfortunately couldn't get all of it.

From here she's had multiple infections including sepsis, and most recently a short stint of radiotherapy.

 

The drug that Paula needs is called PEMBROLIZUMAB (Keytruda), its a type of immunotherapy and works by helping your immune system to kill cancer. Please see the research paper attached showing an ATC case successfully treated with a combination of radiotherapy and PEMBROLIZUMAB. I have also posted some links with more information about the drug.

 

We feel that all donations should be given anonymously to enable people to give unconditionally. Its not about how much you value Paula but about how much you can afford to give. This way Paula will not feel indebted to anyone, just delighted when anyone has donated. Even if you cannot afford to donate spreading the word is just as important.

Other ways you can help:

Take on a challenge to raise money
Set up an event to raise money
Share this page on your social media platforms
All physio's/therapists out there - ask your patients to donate a small portion on top of your normal rate, this way there is a constant flow of money coming in
Athletes out there, use your social media presence to spread the word
 

For all of us that love Paula we need to reach this target, and I have no doubt we will.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time.

 

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2376060521000432

https://www.keytruda.com

https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/pembrolizumab.html

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/cancer-in-general/treatment/cancer-drugs/drugs/pembrolizumab